SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State’s Jameel Pugh will play in the 2005 MaddBacker Celebrity Basketball Game this Friday, April 22, at 7 p.m. at Arco Arena. Pugh becomes the first Sacramento State player to appear at the event, which is in its fourth year of existence and second year at Arco Arena.The game is being presented by the MaddBacker Foundation with all proceeds going to the Natomas Unified School District. Joining Pugh at the event will be NFL players Corey Dillon, Takeo Spikes, Joey Porter, Jerry Porter, Teyo Johnson, Lance Briggs, Onterrio Smith, Kevin Hardy and Levi Jones. It will also feature NBA owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, and Mark Cuban, actors Bill Bellamy and Larenz Tate, and artists E-40, Raz-B of B2K and Raphael Saadiq among others.
A first team all-Big Sky Conference performer this past season in his final year of eligibility, Pugh averaged 15.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. In ESPN’s slam dunk contest on March 31, which featured the top collegiate dunkers from around the nation, Pugh advanced past the first round and semifinals before eventually falling to Tennessee-Chattanooga’s Mindangas Katelynas in the championship round.
Pugh, who played his final two years at Sacramento State after transferring from UMass in 2002-03, finished the year by knocking down at least four three-pointers in eight of the final 10 games of the season. Among Sacramento State Div. I single-season leaders (1991-pres.), Pugh’s 2004-05 statistics ranked fourth in points per game, seventh in scoring (374 points) and eighth in three-pointers made (59).
