August 01, 2003
The Texas A&M men's basketball team begins preparations on Saturday for its five-game tour of Italy August 14-25.
The first practice will be at 10 a.m. in the practice gym at Reed Arena. All workouts are closed to the public.
Under NCAA rules, the Aggies will be allowed 10 days of practice prior to the tour. A&M's 11-man roster will consist of the nine returning players from last year and two graduated seniors, Brian Brookhart and Bradley Jackson. The program's five newcomers are not permitted to participate.
Others players making the tour are seniors Jesse King III, Nick Anderson, Leandro Garcia-Morales, Dylan Leal, Kevin Turner and Andy Slocum, and sophomores Antoine Wright, Marcus Watkins and Luis Clemente.
Not allowed to take the tour are junior Bobby Leach and freshmen LaKeith Blanks, Marlon Pompey, Acie Law IV and Justin Loewe.
The Aggies depart for Italy on August 14 and play their first game in Latina on August 16. Other games are scheduled for August 19 (Margherra), August 21 (Treviglio), August 23 (Castelletto) and August 24 (Treviglio). The team will return to College Station on August 25.
"We're excited about getting an early jump on the season," A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. Our players are anxious to get back on the court and play basketball."
The Aggies finished 14-14 last season, their first .500-or-better slate in nine years. The team loses four starters, but returns eight lettermen who have combined for 146 career starts.
2003 TEXAS A&M ITALY TOUR ROSTER
Player Pos Ht. Wt. Cl-Ex. Hometown (High School/College) ANDERSON, Nick F 6-6 230 Sr-2L Baton Rouge, La. (Southern Lab HS) BROOKHART, Brian F 6-10 235 Grad Crowley, Texas (Crowley HS/TCU) CLEMENTE, Luis F 6-8 225 So-Rs Puerto Rico (Maine Central Institute {Pittsfield, Maine}) GARCIA-MORALES, Leandro G 6-1 180 Sr-1L Montevideo, Uruguay (Miami-Dade CC {Miami, Fla.}) JACKSON, Bradley G 5-10 185 Grad Inglewood, Calif. (Inglewood HS/ San Diego State) KING, Jesse F/G 6-7 225 Sr-3L Detroit, Mich. (Pershing HS/ Winchendon School) LEAL, Dylan G 6-4 195 Sr-3L Houston, Texas (Stratford HS) SLOCUM, Andy C 7-0 275 Sr-3L West Monroe, La. (West Monroe HS) TURNER, Kevin G 6-2 175 Sr-1L Diamond Bar, Calif. (Diamond Bar/ Fullerton College) WATKINS, Marcus G 6-4 190 So-1L College Station, Texas (A&M Consolidated HS) WRIGHT, Antoine F/G 6-7 195 So-1L San Bernardino, Calif. (Lawrence Academy {Groton, Mass.})