November 06, 2000
Riddled by preseason injuries, the Texas A&M men's basketball team opens it fall exhibition schedule against Australia's Team Ezybonds on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Fans who bring a canned food item will be admitted for just $2. Collected items will be donated to the Brazos Food Bank and the Twin Cities Mission for Thanksgiving distribution. Regular ticket prices are $15 courtside, $12 mezzanine, $10 balcony and $6 gallery.
At least three Aggies will not play on Tuesday, with four others nursing a variety of injuries. Senior forward Aaron Jack has been out since suffering a concussion on Oct. 18, while sophomore forward Tomas Ress is recovering from a staph infection that left him hospitalized for more than a week. Sophomore center Andy Slocum also will miss the game with tendonitis in his right shoulder.
Sophomore point guard Jamaal Gilchrist is listed as doubtful with a left groin strain, sophomore guard Bernard King is listed as questionable with a groin strain and strained back, freshman guard Dylan Leal is probable with a sprained left ankle and a sophomore forward Brian Brookhart is probable with a strained right hamstring.
"I've been here 18 years and I've never seen this many injuries this early in the year," A&M trainer Mike Ricke said.
Team Ezybonds was 0-3 on its American tour going into Monday night's game at Sam Houston State in Huntsville. Ezybonds opened its tour on Thursday with an 83-72 loss to New Mexico State, followed by a 100-89 loss to Texas-El Paso on Saturday and a a 92-81 loss to Texas on Sunday.
Team Ezybonds is led by 6-8 forward Scott Mitchell, who averaged 17.3 points in the first three games, and 6-5 guard Damien Anderson, who averaged 13.7 points in that stretch. Anderson scored 20 points with eight rebounds in the loss to Texas.
"We're looking forward to our first exhibition," Third-year A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. "For us to improve, it's gotten to the point where we need to play someone besides ourselves. We wanted to look at a bunch of different combinations, but because of the injuries we may not get as much out of this as we'd like."
For A&M, six players return who started at least 12 games last year, including Gilchrist and King, who started all 28 games together in the backcourt. In addition, Watkins welcomes his second straight top-25 rated recruiting class.
The game marks the unofficial debut of a trio of heralded newcomers, freshmen Nick Anderson and Nolan Butterfras and sophomore Keith Bean, a transfer from North Carolina State.
The 6-6 Anderson earned Parade All-America honors last spring and was a top-20 national prospect by several publications. Bean, a physical 6-8 workhorse, played in 24 games as a freshman at North Carolina State, but sat out last season after transferring to A&M.