Jan. 17, 2008
ANNAPOLIS, Md.-The rosters have been set for the annual Navy Men's Basketball Alumni Game, which will take place Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Alumni Hall. Admission is free. Twenty-two players representing classes from 1965-2006 will be represented.
Former assistant coach Jimmy Leary (1980-82), who owns a career record of 0-3 in alumni games, will coach the Gold team. Leary has added Paul Evans, who went 119-60 as a head coach at Navy from 1981-86, to his coaching staff in hopes of getting that elusive first career win.
Leary's squad will be led by Skip Victor ('99), who was a great player for the Midshipmen in the late 1990s. Victor led Navy to two NCAA tournament appearances (1997 and 1998) in his career and ranks fifth all-time at Navy in career steals (139).
Victor will get plenty of help in the backcourt from Victor Mickel ('94), who as a senior led Navy to the NCAA Tournament. Mickel, a former assistant coach at Navy for Don DeVoe ranks seventh all-time in career assists and 10th in career steals (117).
The Gold should have plenty of young legs to run up and down the court with versatile scoring guards John Williams ('01) and David Hooper ('06) and athletic forwards Quintrell McCreary ('03) and Leonard Green ('06) balancing out the roster.
The Blue squad will be coached by former Navy basketball player Dave Bethel ('79), who has a 1-0 career record in alumni games after defeating Leary in last year's contest.
The Blue will be led by point guard Brian Walker ('97), who ranks second all-time in career steals (193) and career assists (531) and led Navy to two NCAA Tournaments (1994 and 1997).
Walker should be able to chalk up a lot of assists in Saturday's game by throwing the ball to Kevin Sinnett ('79), who is one of five Navy players to have his jersey retired and is Navy's third all-time leading scorer with 1,687 points. Sinnett was more than just a scorer in his career as he also ranks fourth (797) on Navy's career rebounding list.
The Blue will have good size inside with athletic big men Larry Green ('95) and George O'Garro ('05) and the heady Matt Sladky ('98). Guards Demond Shepard ('02) and Jason Fernandez ('05) will be dangerous marksmen for Bethel's squad.
Navy Alumni Game Rosters
Blue
Brian Walker-'97
Larry Green-'95
George O'Garro-'05
Matt Sladky-'98
Demond Shepard-'02
Jason Fernandez-'05
Kevin Sinnett-'79
Mike Wall-'99
Sly Mata-'85
Jerry Liscomb-'76
Jim Savard-'65
Head Coach-Dave Bethel `79
Gold
Skip Victor-'99
Victor Mickel-'94
Quintrell McCreary-'03
John Williams-'01
Leonard Green-'06
David Hooper-'06
Cecil Fletcher-'99
Kelvin Boatner-'06
Victor Smith-'80
Roy Ledesma-'87
Leo Latonick-`77
Head Coach: Jimmy Leary (1980-82)
Assistant Coach: Paul Evans (1981-86)
