Opening night rosters set for CBA's 61st season

Published on November 29, 2006 under Continental Basketball Association 1 (CBA 1) News Release

Albany, NY (November 29, 2006) - The golden road towards the Continental Basketball Association's 61st championship began today as teams finalized their rosters for opening night. The season tips off Friday night, December 1, when the entire league will be in action.

The night kicks off with the Albany Patroons hosting the Pittsburgh Xplosion. Head Coach Micheal Ray Richardson's club will be looking to improve on last years playoff run. The Patroons return crowd favorites Jamario Moon and T.J. Thompson, the CBA's scoring leader last season. Veterans Kwan Johnson, Sean Higgins, and Felipe Lopez will provide the Patroons with leadership and structure this season. The Xplosion enter the CBA depending on the talents of rookie phenom Kevin Pittsnogle. Pittsnogle, the last player cut from the Boston Celtics this season, will be looked to to provide the scoring punch for the Xplosion. Guards Bryant McAllister, Caleco Buie and Wayne Copeland give the Xplosion a speedy backcourt to go to in addition to Pittsnogle.

The CBA returns to the state of Montana as the Butte Daredevils host the Indiana Alleycats. Head Coach Scott Carson has an experienced crew of players led by former NBA star Keith Closs and Odell Bradley. The Daredevils also have the shooting touch of David Bell and the penetrating skills of Anthony Richardson to go to in crunch time. The Alleycats also have a former NBA player at the helm with Erick Barkley suiting up for Indiana. Barkley is joined by Shaun Fountain and big man Chris Garnett this season in Indiana.

Chris Daleo continues his tenure with the CBA, going from the Rockford Lightning to the Minot Skyrockets, as his team travels to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Eagles. Daleo will have former Lighting players Dale Miller, Kenyon Gamble, Lenny Cooke and sharpshooter Desmond Ferguson to call on this season. Daleo also has the 2006 CBA Draft number one overall pick DeayShawn Wright at his disposal. Veteran overseas head coach Scott Fields will be operating on the sidelines for the Eagles this season. Fields will be calling on forward John Millsap and center Cory Underwood to patrol the middle for the Eagles. Other Eagles that are looking to make an impact this season include Rob Griffin, Tyler Jones, and Brian Evans.

The final opening night contest pits the expansion Great Falls Explorers against the CBA defending champions Yakama Sunkings. The Sunkings will be raising a banner to commemorate their 2005-06 CBA Championship prior to tip off. The Sunkings have their charismatic leader Paul Woolpert again on the bench for the defending champions. Woolpert has veteran Sunking players Ralph Holmes and Richard Dionne back in the fold and has added veterans Galen Young and Eddy Barlow in his quest to become repeat champions. The Explorers will rely on veteran head coach Steve Aggers this season to bring a winner to Great Falls. Aggers has CBA veterans Keith Salscheider and Matt Vaughn toeing the three-point line and big men Brad Stricker and Marc Mazur in the paint this season for the Explorers.

A great weekend of basketball continues on Saturday with Pittsburgh taking on Albany and Yakama hosting Great Falls for the second consecutive night. The final contest of the weekend takes place in Minot, the Skyrockets host the Indiana Alleycats on Sunday December 3.

2006 CBA OPENING NIGHT ROSTERS

2006 ALBANY PATROONS ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. DOB From
4 Sheldon Bailey F 6-6 230 05/26/83 Florida International '05
22 Sean Higgins F 6-9 225 12/30/68 Michigan '90
20 Reggie Jesse F 6-7 230 06/08/75 St. John's '01
32 Kwan Johnson G 6-4 205 01/14/74 New Orleans '97
50 Gordon Klaiber* F 6-8 208 10/10/83 Fairleigh Dickinson '06
10 Felipe Lopez G 6-5 200 12/19/74 St. John's '98
33 Jamario Moon F 6-8 205 06/13/80 Meridian CC '00
45 Ian McVey F 6-11 220 07/04/82 Utah State '05
5 Ronald "TJ" Thompson G 5-10 180 09/18/82 George Washington '05
0 Eric Williams C 6-10 260 07/06/78 Massachusetts '02

Head Coach: Micheal Ray Richardson
Assistant Coach: Derrick Rowland

2006 BUTTE DAREDEVILS ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. DOB From
# David Bell G 6-1 200 06/20/81 Montana '03
# Carl Boyd G 6-5 228 02/05/77 California '99
# Odell Bradley G 6-4 245 09/06/81 IUPUI '04
# Keith Closs C 7-3 215 04/03/76 Central Connecticut '96
# Jason Harris* G 6-4 215 04/14/83 Sacramento State '06
# Anthony Richardson F 6-7 225 07/29/83 Florida State '05
# Ronald Ross G 6-2 187 02/11/83 Texas Tech '05
# Nick VanderLaan C 6-10 225 10/27/79 California-Irvine '04

Head Coach: Scott Carson
Assistant Coach: Patrick O'Herron, Milt Horton

2006 GREAT FALLS EXPLORERS ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. DOB From
21 Marlyn Bryant G 6-3 220 08/04/82 South Florida '05
43 Jamar Howard G 6-4 205 01/08/83 Wichita State '04
42 Marc Mazur C 6-10 260 01/29/77 Detroit '02
48 Malik Moore G 6-3 178 04/23/77 American International '02
35 Keith Salscheider G 6-5 200 12/02/79 Christian Heritage (CA) '03
38 Eric Strand F 6-8 225 03/18/77 Nebraska-Kearney '99
22 Brad Stricker C 6-11 285 07/16/77 Georgia State '00
15 Matt Vaughn G 6-0 175 01/01/83 California Christian '05
33 Michael Webb* G 6-1 205 07/18/84 Pacific '06
31 Armond Williams F 6-5 220 08/28/78 Illinois-Chicago '05

Head Coach: Steve Aggers
Assistant Coaches: Johnny Clark, Justin Wetzel, Mike McLean


2006 INDIANA ALLEYCATS ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. DOB From
# Erick Barkley G 6-1 170 02/21/78 St. John's '99
# Anton Currie* F 6-8 215 04/10/84 Toledo '06
# Shaun Fountain G 5-11 180 09/08/78 Wisconsin-Milwaukee '01
# Chris Garnett C 6-11 255 01/22/80 Indiana-Southwest '04
# Ishmial Kamara G 6-5 220 01/07/81 California (PA) '03
# Paul McMillan F 6-6 235 07/15/80 Loyola-Chicago '04
# Harold Rasul F 6-7 220 11/23/75 St. Joseph's '03
# DeAndre Walker F 6-6 225 04/20/80 Columbus State CC '02

Head Coach: Carlos Knox
Assistant Coaches: Rob Spon

2006 MINOT SKYROCKETS ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. DOB From
55 Steve Castleberry C 7-0 264 05/20/81 Rider '05
33 Lenny Cooke G 6-6 240 04/29/82 LaSalle Academy '03
24 Ray Cunningham F 6-6 220 12/05/77 Murray State '01
44 Lewis Fadipe* C 6-10 220 05/09/82 LaSalle '06
5 Desmond Ferguson G 6-7 215 07/22/77 Detroit '00
34 Kenyon Gamble C 6-11 220 05/09/82 Tuskegee '05
10 Dale Miller G 6-0 195 12/07/73 North Dakota '96
41 DayShawn Wright F 6-7 230 09/05/85 Syracuse '05
2 Jitim Young G 6-2 205 12/19/82 Northwestern '04

Head Coach: Chris Daleo
Assistant Coaches: Darryl Greene

2006 PITTSBURGH XPLOSION ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. DOB From
14 Caleco Buie G 6-5 215 11/06/73 Missouri State '97
5 Wayne Copeland G 6-0 188 10/28/75 Lynn '00
44 DeVaughn Hasel F 6-7 235 07/17/74 Point Park '97
24 Issac Jefferson G 6-4 200 08/09/81 Hampton '04
54 Greg Jenkins C 6-10 250 03/18/82 Iona '05
20 Bryant McAllister G 6-3 195 03/04/82 Mansfield '05
32 Marvin Phillips F 6-7 230 12/28/83 Claflin '04
35 Kevin Pittsnogle* F 6-11 255 07/30/84 West Virginia '06
25 Janerio Spurlock F 6-6 210 09/03/78 Kansas State '03
23 Marc Williams* G 6-3 195 04/02/83 IUPUI '06

Head Coach: Larry Anderson
Assistant Coaches: Paul Redwood, Pat Blue


2006 UTAH EAGLES ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. DOB From
# John Millsap G 6-6 220 10/19/82 Texas San-Antonio '04
# Brian Evans G 6-0 180 03/04/82 Texas A&M - Corpus Christi '04
# Cory Underwood C 6-10 235 02/13/80 SUNO '03
# Mychal Green* G 6-4 210 01/15/83 Ohio University '06
# Tyler Jones F 6-9 250 02/26/84 St. John's '04
# Rob Griffin G 6-6 213 03/14/78 Iowa '01
# Bernard Rock G 5-10 155 05/07/77 Utah State '00

Head Coach: Scott Fields
Assistant Coach: Don Sellers

2006 YAKIMA SUN KINGS ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. DOB From
9 Eddy Barlow G 6-0 165 06/29/81 Sam Houston State '03
34 Richard Dionne F 6-5 225 06/30/81 Nebraska-Kearney '04
52 Jeremy Eaton F 6-11 240 03/04/76 Gonzaga '99
8 Jason Forte* G 6-4 216 02/07/84 Southern Mississippi '06
15 Ralph Holmes G 6-4 190 07/05/79 Cal.-State Fullerton '05
11 Darius Mattear F 6-7 222 02/27/82 Texas - El Paso '04
21 Devone Stephenson F 6-8 220 08/17/78 Duquesne '00
23 Galen Young G 6-6 220 10/16/75 UNC - Charlotte '99

Injured Reserve
4 Elvin Mims F 6-5 210 12/13/79 Southern Mississippi '02

Head Coach: Paul Woolpert
Assistant Coach: Tony Fritz


* DENOTES ROOKIE

Continental Basketball Association 1 Stories from November 29, 2006

• CBA Transactions - CBA 1
• Opening night rosters set for CBA's 61st season - CBA 1
• Xplosion sign three players - Pittsburgh Xplosion
• Minot Skyrockets Announce Final Roster - Minot Skyrockets

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.