FORMER BASKETBALL PLAYERS PUGH, HARRIS AND FREEMAN EACH SIGN CONTRACTS TO PLAY OVERSEAS
2/28/2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Former Sacramento State men’s basketball stars DaShawn Freeman (2002-06), Jameel Pugh (2003-05) and Jason Harris (2004-06) each recently signed contracts to play basketball overseas.
Pugh has already made a splash with the Otago Nuggets of the National Basketball League of New Zealand, winning a slam dunk contest last Saturday. Video of the contest can be obtained by clicking on the link above the story. Otago’s regular season begins on March 10 and runs through the end of June. Pugh is expected to replace Otago’s top scoring swingman from last season, Branduinn Fullove.
Freeman, who spent time on the CBA’s Butte Daredevils roster, signed with EnBW Ludwigsburg of the German First Division on Feb. 16. Freeman is currently still in the United States, but is under contract with Ludwigsburg. The team’s season is already underway and runs through May 15. Freeman will continue to work out in the U.S. until a roster spot frees up with Ludwigsburg, at which point he will fly to Germany and begin playing.
Harris, who also spent time with the CBA’s Butte Daredevils, signed a contact to play in Australia for the Geraldton Buccaneers of the Skywest Basketball League. Geraldton’s season runs from March 31-Aug. 5, and Harris will leave for Australia on March 9.
Pugh, Harris and Freeman join a contingency of former Sacramento State players who are currently under contracts with basketball teams overseas. Some of those players include Joel Jones (Bayamon Vaqueros of the Superior League of Puerto Rico), Pablo Gonzales (Okapi Aalstar of the Belgian Basketball League) and Troy Selvey (Tirgu Mures Tigers of the Romanian Basketball League).
A four-year starter at point guard for Sacramento State, Freeman finished his career in 2005-06 as owner of both the Sacramento State and Big Sky Conference records with 283 career steals. His 501 assists also set a program record and is the sixth-best mark in Big Sky history. The only Hornet to start all 30 games in 2005-06, Freeman was one of two Sacramento State players to earn first team all-Big Sky accolades while also being named the league’s co-defensive player of the year. Freeman never missed a game during his four-year career and served as the poster child for the turnaround of Sacramento State basketball. He led the Hornets to the Big Sky Tournament all four years of his career after the team had failed to reach the postseason event during its first six years in the league.
Pugh, who spent time earlier this season with the Dakota Wizards of the NBA Developmental League, brought his high-flying skills to Sacramento State for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons after spending his first two collegiate years at UMass. He gained the national spotlight on March 31, 2005, when he finished as the runner-up at the ESPN College Slam Dunk competition. Pugh was named first team all-Big Sky in 2005 after finishing his senior season with averages of 15.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. During his two-year career at Sacramento State, Pugh averaged 12.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 41.0 percent (224-546) from the field.
Harris played for the Hornets in 2004-05 and 2005-06 after transferring from Chaffey Junior College. He finished his two-year Sacramento State career with averages of 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. As a junior, he was named first team all-Big Sky after averaging 17.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 7.9 trips to the free throw line per game. During that same season, he had 11 games with at least 20 points, the most in Sacramento State Div. I (1991-pres.) history. He scored in double figures in 39 of his 52 career games, and ranks first among Sacramento State’s Div. I career leaders in both free throws (251) and free throws attempted (338). He was named the Big Sky’s Preseason Player of the Year by four different publications prior to the 2005-06 season.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Former Sacramento State men’s basketball stars DaShawn Freeman (2002-06), Jameel Pugh (2003-05) and Jason Harris (2004-06) each recently signed contracts to play basketball overseas.
