Rockets offer to two new players Rockets Sign Two To Qualifying Offers Sept. 27 - The Houston Rockets have made qualifying offers to guard Tierre Brown and center Ike Nwankwo, General Manager Carroll Dawson announced today. Nwankwo played college basketball from 1993-96 at UCLA, with whom he won an NCAA Championship, before transferring to Long Beach State for a season. The 6-11, 250-pound center played the 1997-98 season with Venezuela's Cocodrilos de Caracas and Puerto Rico's Piratas de Quebradillas. A member of the Nigerian National team, he played the 1998-99 season with Poland's SSA Sopot, Turkey's Tuborg Spor Kulubu Izmir and Puerto Rico's Quebradillas. During the 1999-2000 season, Nwankwo returned to the SSA Sopot before a stint with Puerto Rico's Vaqueros de Bayamon. Last season he played for the CBA's Sioux Falls Skyforce. Most recently, Nwankwo spent time with Venezuela's Marinos de Oriente this summer. Brown finished his four-year career at McNeese State this summer with averages of 15.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 110 games. The 6-2, 189-pound guard led the Southland Conference in scoring as a junior and ranked second as a senior. In each of his final two seasons, Brown ranked in the nation's top 25 in scoring average. He received All-Southland Conference honors as both a junior and a senior, scoring over 20 points per game each year. As a junior, Brown averaged a career-high 22.0 points per game. The Rockets training camp roster now stands at 14 players. A big man and a two guard. Its about time some activity has taken place. Does anyone have any information on these players? And what do you think their chance of making the team? (Oops like someone else has a thread on this, sorry)
WHOA!!!!! BLAST FROM THE PAST!! I played in high school with Ike Nwankwo at Cypress Creek HS. He's a local boy. Junior High too.........Campbell Gators!!! Wow, this is freaky. Ike has been playing overseas for several years now. I followed Ike through college......didn't get a lot of PT at UCLA. I though he would his junior year, but Jelani McCoy came in and seemingly pulled the carpet out from under Ike, so he transferred. I don't think he'll make the team honestly. But he is a physical player inside. Not extremely strong, but fairly versatile. He used to be able to shoot from about 20 and in, but I have not seen him shoot since college. Defensively, he was average, not a HUGE shotblocker, but serviceable....not a glaring weakness. But European ball tends not to put out defensive juggernauts.
