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In the heart of the offseason, October proves to be yet another busy month for the CBA

10/29/2014, 7:30am CDT
By CBA Staff

Halfway between the conclusion of the 2014 season and the start of the 2015 season, October was projected to be one of several quiet months in the heart of the offseason for the Central Basketball Association. However, on the contrary, it has been quite active for several teams on different fronts during this month. Below is a list of various news and notes around the league in October:

October 5: Three players from the Fort Wayne Flite were chosen to participate in a tour of China: Marques Johnson (Georgia State), Terrance Beasley (Tulane), and Antonio Wilson (Glen Oaks CC). The trio are currently in the middle of their three-week tour of the country, with the goal of landing a position with a club in the Chinese Basketball Association.

October 6: Fort Wayne Flite's guard, Ronald Lucas III, was declared Most Valuable Player for the Eurobasket tournament held in Atlanta, Georgia. The 6-4 guard from Columbus State CC scored over a hundred points combined in all of his games for "Team Russia", leading all scorers in the tournament. Lucas III, who was a top-20 finalist in the NBL-Canada workouts in August, also scored over thirty points in the finals. The success from this tournament may potentially land him a spot on a tour in Australia this winter. 

October 15: Bowling Green Hornets' guard, Justin Taylor (Tennessee Tech), was named Assistant Coach for the Men's Basketball team at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Taylor becomes the fourth member of the Hornets organization, and third Hornets player, to advance in the coaching ranks, joining Otis Key (Women's Head Coach - Volunteer State CC), Daniel Price (Women's Head Coach - Midway College), and Andrae Woodard (Boys' Assistant Coach - Kenwood High School).

October 17: The Memphis Soul Kings traveled north to Indiana for an exhibition game, and upset the Flite in a mostly one-sided affair, 84-70, in front of various international and NBA D-League scouts at the McMillen Center in Fort Wayne. Memphis, who missed the 2014 post-season tournament with a 4-6 record, had never faced Fort Wayne prior to this pre-season matchup.   

October 18: A half dozen players from the Central Basketball Association participated in the NBA D-League tryouts for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, including three players who made it to the second and final cuts: Memphis Soul Kings' Tyrell Hursey (Victory), Middle Tennessee Storm's Torye Pelham (Southern Mississippi), and Chattanooga Rail Runners' Philip Jurick (Oklahoma State). The tryouts were held at the McMillen Center in Fort Wayne, which is also the home court for the Flite. 

October 23: The 2014 CBA Champions, Middle Tennessee Storm, squared off against the Men's Basketball Team of Welch College in Nashville in an exhibition game. Although the teams played fairly even basketball for the first half of the contest, the Storm pulled away late to win 102-82. Myles Thrash (Stillman), captain of the Storm squad, led all scorers with 37 points. 

October 24: Bowling Green Hornets' John Paul Nyadaro (Trevecca Nazarene) and Chattanooga Rail Runners' Fred Sturdivant (Texas Southern) began training camps with their respective clubs, Saint John Mill Rats and Windsor Express, in Canada. Sturdivant, who played for the Ottawa Skyhawks in NBL-Canada in 2013-2014, appears to be a lock for the opening day roster for Windsor, while 2014 second-round draft pick, Nyadaro, is in a tight training camp battle with fourteen others in an attempt to make the 12-man opening day roster. 

(Photo courtesy: Rod Stears / Saint John Mill Rats)

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