The new Pitt CBA team drafted its players.
The second-year Xplosion, a member of the American Basketball Association last year, will compete in the CBA in 2006-07. The CBA is returning to Pittsburgh for the first time since 1994-95, when the Piranhas won the Eastern Division and lost to Yakima, Wash., in the final in their only season.
The Piranhas played their home games at Palumbo Center and averaged about 2,500 fans per game.
The Xplosion, which played in front of crowds between 750 and 1,000, plans to continue playing most of their home games at Mellon Arena and a few at Petersen Center. The CBA’s 48-game schedule begins in early December and runs through the end of March.
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The Xplosion has a new owner, Trinity Sports and Entertainment Group, a Florida corporation formed earlier this year by former NFL quarterback Jay Fiedler, five-time NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway and businessman Demetrius Ford. TSEG also owns several other CBA franchises.
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The Xplosion selected six players in the CBA draft conducted Tuesday — 6-foot-11 Kevin Pittsnogle (West Virginia University), 6-8 Kelly Whitney (Seton Hall), 6-10 Tedric Hill (Gulf Coast CC), 6-4 Hassan Adams (Arizona), 6-7 Jai Lewis (George Mason) and 6-2 Carl Krauser (Pitt).
Naturally, you can expect many of these players to jump at the opportunity.
Pittsnogle recently signed a two-year contract with the NBA Boston Celtics for $1.1 million if he fulfills both years, and Krauser has signed to play professionally this season in Germany for the EWE Baskets Oldenburg, a First Division I team. The Xplosion has the rights to their draft choices for two years.
Uh, huh.
I’m struck by 2 things: 1)how good Palko has become and 2)the ability of our defensive backs to break up everything long.
Also: Strong having a GREAT day.
Prior to the game a few Toledo fans were very confident that the game would be very close.
D played great, they stopped Toledo on 4 straight downs from the 3 yard line to prevent a late td, actually 5 downs if you count offsetting penalties on the 4th down play. We really needed to drill a team like this. Im surprised how many points we’re scoring after the way we looked last year.
I’m glad he’s not holding freshman back for redshirts. These kids can, and are, contributing right away. I believe that DW needs to build a team for THIS year, and let the next few years take care of themselves. If he keeps recruiting quality players, then we’ll build up the depth we need to be a league championship contender.
It’s not like we are a perennial top 10 team that can recruit talent and hide it to build for 2-3 years from now.
When I listen to the games on the internet, and it seems like every big play is being executed by a freshman or soph. I just have to think our future is pretty bright. We are still not where we need to be, but DW’s coaching has taken hold.
