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Central Oregon Hotshots Announce New Head Coach And First Eight Players

March 18, 2010 - International Basketball League (IBL)
West Coast Hotshots News Release


Last season/2009: the 2009 season was the roughest for the Hotshots in five years as the team finished 6-14. There were some superb performances during this rough win-loss season for the Hotshots, highlighted by Damian Browne (20G, 14.3pts, 14.6rbd) who played far bigger than his 6'5" listing and finished tied for first in the league in rebounding. The point guard position was manned by Travis Noble (20G, 18.4pts, 4.5ast) who also put in an All-Star effort. Central Oregon received a late boost of scoring from Riley Luettgerodt (10G, 24.1pts, 4.7 rbd) who played in just seven games- but filled it each night, several times better than 30.

This season/ the 2010 roster: the 2010 will again feature `hidden gems' also known as late developers and/or players who may be at the Division 1 level of play but were not at that level at college. Owner Mikal Duilio"the Hotshots intends to win more games and we intend to compete for the IBL Championship but the primary role of the team is to give players a chance to show that they are at the overseas level of basketball. For some players, the Hotshots opportunity will show them that they are not at this level and for other players, they will make it and move on to overseas play." The Hotshots play 14 different opponents in 2010. The Hotshots take a trip to the Midwest to play; that trip includes a game at Holland Michigan, a game at Kankakee Illinois and 2 games at Battle Creek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N422ki9psk).

Head Coach Osa Esene: Osa Esene co-coached and trained a bit here and there with the Central Oregon Hotshots in 2009, but will take the reigns in 2010- as head coach. Esene played college basketball at University of Hawaii-Hilo where, in his senior year, Esene was the leading scorer in the conference (22 points per game) and in that year, Esene was not only First Team All Pac West, but as well, Osa was the Conference Player of the Year (2005). Osa Esene played professional basketball overseas in Germany's division 3 and division 2 levelsfor three yearsand in one of those seasons, Esene averaged 23.0 points per game. After three years of overseas basketball, Esene returned to the Portland metropolitan area (Oregon) where he played a few games with the Vancouver Volcanoes (IBL) but more importantly, started to develop his coaching and training emphasis. Three years later and the partial season with the Hotshots as a trainer and partial season co-coach- Osa Esene is ready to take the reigns as head coach. Esene has been working for a year pluswith Court Sessionsa basketball training company based in Portland Oregon owned and ran by Edward LeBlanc. LeBlanc and Court Sessions have trained 100's of basketball clients per year for over ten years. LeBlanc and Court Sessions have worked with all levels of players including collegiate players and NBA players. LeBlanc and Court Sessions will work with Esenee to bring a `training atmosphere to the Hotshots' and move it from a `community professional team' which has worked in the pastto nowa `training and development team'. Owner Mikal Duilio"it is time for this change; while I loved the community type team, the rest of the IBL's talent is skyrocketing, so we have to step it up and move to a coach with a training and development emphasis".

Roster so far

Guards

6' 5" Desi Crisp- played college basketball at the University of North Carolina Pembroke. Desi Crisp has since played in various minor leagues in the SE states. Desi Crisp is represented by Adam Prossin.

6' 3" Hassan Stewart- played at Hamilton College where he averaged 20.8 pts, 5 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game.

6' 4" Justin Lockhart- played at Avila University where he averaged 15 pts, 3 assists and 5 rbs per game.

6' 1" Travis Noble- played college ball at Montana State Northern where he was a prolific scorer. Noble played for the Hotshots in 2009 (the only returning Hotshots player) and in fact, he made the All Star team last year for the Hotshots.

Forwards

6' 7" Chris Sessions- played college basketball at Utah State University and recently played in Division 2 Austria where his team won a championship and he was 1st in rebounding, 2nd in scoring; Chris is represented by Winning Ways.

Post players

6' 8" Tony Akpan, played football at University of Hawaii; Akpan also played basketball at the University of Hawaii. Tony went on to play overseas basketball for a few years after college. In the last two years, Akpan has played against various CBA teams (China) in IBL exhibition games. Akpan is a tremendous rebounder and defender.

6' 8" Isaiah Bryant- played at University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

6' 7" Adam Rankin, played at Foothills College in Los Altos, California.

Roster note: four more players will be named to the Hotshots after two IBL tryouts Orlando and Tallahassee Florida.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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