OXFORD, Miss. –Jermey Parnell’s trip to the Far East has been a productive one, as the Ole Miss forward has posted some impressive numbers with the Sports Reach Team.
            Facing professional team Chongqing, Parnell recorded a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 18 rebounds. The Rebel rising sophomore followed up with 12 points in the first of two games against the Quingdong Double Star Eagels, and tallied 14 points and 6 boards in the second encounter. Over the last three games, he has shot 54.5 percent with no turnovers.
            The Sports Reach squad, which is comprised of SEC players, has turned in a 5-0 record against pro competition in its Far East excursion that began on May 16. The unit has two more games remaining before returning to the United States on May 28.
 

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Omaha, NB - The most noteworthy news from the league office concerns the dates and formats of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Basketball
Tournaments.  The men's basketball tournament -- the 16th consecutive men's tournament in St. Louis -- will feature all 10 Missouri Valley Conference
schools and will be played at Savvis Center. However, the Tournament will begin a day earlier and end a day earlier (Thursday-Sunday, March 2-5, 2006). Since 1997, the tournament had started on a Friday and ended on a Monday. League Commissioner Doug Elgin also indicated that the league¹s regular-season will end on either Saturday or Sunday, rather than the Monday night finale seen in recent years.

 

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NEW YORK -- After earning a berth in the 2005 Postseason NIT following a season in which it won the program's 21st Mid-American Conference Championship, Miami University's men's basketball team will open the 2005-06 campaign in the Preseason NIT. The RedHawks play at Alabama on Nov. 15.

Duke and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, both of whom reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament last season, lead the field for the 2005 Preseason NIT.

The Blue Devils, who won the 16-team tournament in 1985 and 2000, will host Boston University in one of four opening-round games Nov. 14, the NIT said Tuesday.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee, making its debut in the Preseason NIT, plays at Memphis in one of the four first-round games Nov. 15.

The other games on Nov. 14 have Manhattan at Seton Hall, Sam Houston State at Missouri and Drexel at Princeton. On Nov. 15, in addition to the Miami at Alabama contest, Army is at Temple and New Mexico State is at UCLA.

The second round will be played Nov. 16 and 17 at campus sites, while the semifinals are at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 23, with the championship game on Nov. 25.

Duke, which has All-America guard J.J. Redick and center Shelden Williams returning to join one of the nation's best recruiting classes, lost to Michigan State in the NCAA's regional semifinals in March.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee stunned Alabama and Boston College before losing to top-ranked Illinois in the round of 16. Coach Bruce Pearl left for Tennessee after the school's most successful season, and Wisconsin assistant Rob Jeter takes over the program.

Besides Duke and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, only Alabama and UCLA, losers in the first round, were in last season's NCAA tournament.

Wake Forest beat Arizona 63-60 in last year's Preseason NIT championship game.

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Riverside, CA - Redshirt freshmen Daniel Fleming and Justin Argenal have been released from their scholarships at UC Riverside, enabling them to transfer, Men's Basketball Head Coach David Spencer announced. In addition, UCR announced that sophomore Tron Smith, who transferred from Arizona State University in January, would not return to the basketball program next season.

"In both Justin and Daniel's instances, the decision was by mutual agreement," Spencer said. "We met, individually, and agreed that it is the best thing for them as individuals and for us as a team. We wish them
nothing but the best of luck."

Neither Fleming nor Argenal played during the 2004-05 season as they recovered from injuries. Argenal, a 5-11, 175 pound guard from Lafayette, CA, had a fracture in his foot that kept him on the bench, while Fleming, a
6-7, 190 pound forward from Murrieta, CA, suffered from patella femoral syndrome, which had plagued him throughout high school. Fleming's knee trouble continued following the '04-'05 season when he suffered another injury during off-season conditioning, and he subsequently underwent arthroscopic surgery to correct the problem.

Spencer said that Smith, a guard from Moreno Valley, CA, had not attended any team meetings or off-season conditioning workouts since the coaching change.

"Tron has not come to see me or spoken to me since my first week as coach. I believe he intends to transfer to a junior college," Spencer said. "As with Justin and Daniel, we wish him well."

"It can be a difficult time for student-athletes when a coaching change is made. There are differences in coaching styles, philosophies, playing styles, and it is understandable that not everyone will fit into every system," Spencer added.

 

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