Three Patriots Plan Return to Camp
November 4, 2003 - NBA G League (G League)
Fayetteville Patriots News Release
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., November 4, 2003 â Three familiar players will be in attendance at Fayetteville Patriots training camp, starting Saturday. Omar Cook, Bryan Lucas and Junie Sanders have re-signed with the National Basketball Development League and will compete for roster spots for the 2003-2004 team.
Training camp starts Saturday at the Crown Arena. Cook, a 6-foot-1 guard out of St. John's, returns for his third season and his second camp. The Patriots acquired him 21 games into the 2001-2002 season.
He is the NBDL's all-time assists leader with 540 over 85 games. During Cook's first season with the Patriots, he set the single-game assists record with 19. Over two seasons, he is averaging 9.4 points, 6.4 assists and 1.5 steals.
The Boston Celtics made him an NBA call up in 2002 and he was among the last three players released from the Indiana Pacers veterans camp nine days ago.
Lucas returns for his second season with the Patriots. He played a key role as a reserve on the Patriots 2002-2003 regular-season championship team. The University of North Texas product averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds. He also led the Patriots in shooting by hitting 53 percent of his shots from the field.
Lucas posted three double-doubles and scored 20-plus points on four separate occasions.
Sanders is a New York streetball legend. Over the summer, he won the King of New York one-on-one Championship. The victory earned him a spot in the national Kings of the Court competition, which was televised on MTV on Sept. 7. Sanders finished second to Los Angeles native Erron Maxey.
Five U.S. cities and 160 players participated in the BATTLEGROUND Kings of the Court, yet Sanders was a finalist. Perhaps that is because large numbers don't intimidate him.
Sanders was selected over 114 other players following the Patriots 2002 free agent camp. Soon after he made the Patriots 10-man roster after competing in the Patriots 25-man training camp.
Sanders played a key role as a reserve last season and averaged 8.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 49 games with the Patriots last season. He scored a season-high 27 points on 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range against Roanoke on Feb. 20. He had 13 points and 11 rebounds against Columbus on March 8.
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