Cougars Let Transfer Go; Whl May Exit Tacoma

Washington State men’s basketball coach Kevin Eastman announced Monday that Richard “TuTu” Brown, a 6-foot-3 swing guard at South Plains College in Texas, has been released from the national letter of intent he signed last November.

“We signed Richard with the understanding that he had to fulfill certain academic requirements during the school year in order to meet the NCAA transfer rules, but unfortunately, it appears he will not fulfill these requirements,” said Eastman. “Richard is a very good basketball player, but there is more to the total equation in our program than just the ability to play the game.”

Eastman added, “While there is no question that we lose a quality player, I feel very comfortable knowing we made the right decision, both for Richard and for WSU.”

This past season Brown ranked eighth in scoring in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference with a 16.4 average. He paced the team with 90 3-point baskets, including a school-record 10 in one game against New Mexico Junior College.Brown is a 1992 graduate of Dunbar High in Dayton, where he averaged 31.0 points as a senior and earned all-state honors and was runner-up for the Division II player of the year in Ohio. He posted scoring numbers of 27.8 as a junior and 23.0 as a sophomore and still holds the Dunbar and Dayton scoring records.

Eastman did sign two junior college perimeter players during the late period to absorb the loss of Brown.

Hockey

The Tacoma Rockets of the Western Hockey League appear headed for Kelowna, British Columbia, The Tacoma News Tribune reported.

A proposal by Edmonton developer Gordon Oxley to buy the team and move it to Kelowna was scheduled to be considered Monday by the league’s executive committee, the paper said, citing an unidentified source.

The executive committee’s recommendation would have to be approved by the WHL’s Board of Governors. If approved, play could begin in Kelowna this fall.

Under the proposed deal, Oxley would buy the club for $2 million in U.S. funds. Rockets president Bruce Hamilton would retain an option to buy back part of the team.

“Approval could come as soon as 24 hours after the recommendation in the form of a conference call,” the source told the newspaper. “Or, if they require a face-to-face meeting, it could drag on for a week or so.”

Hamilton would not comment, saying, “Nothing is official.”

Oxley said, “Where did you get all that? Uh, I have no comment on anything involving that.”

The Rockets entered the league as an expansion franchise in 1991 and have made the WHL playoffs in all four of their seasons. However, the team has lost $900,000 over four years playing in the Tacoma Dome. Rockets owners paid a $500,000 expansion fee four years ago.

Kelowna has been without a WHL team since its franchise became the Spokane Chiefs in 1985.

, DataTimes MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition.