Potential Noise signee Isma'il Muhammad ready to play
May 8, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Knoxville Noise News Release
Knoxville, TN. Former Georgia Tech stand-out and high flyer Isma'il Muhammad may be joining the ABA Knoxville Noise for the upcoming 2006-2007 season according to Gavin Raiteri, CEO and co-owner of the team. "Isma'il's agent, Wallace Prather and I have reached a tentative agreement for Isma'il to play for the Noise this season," said Raiteri. "We're thrilled to have a player of his caliber coming to this city and this team. He's going to bring an exciting above-the-rim style of basketball to the city. It's going to be something the fans will not want to miss."
Muhammad earned Most Valuable Player honors in the 2003 pre-season NIT, scoring a combined total of 38 points over the number 1 ranked UConn Huskies and the number 25 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders in the tournament. He scored 22 points and had 6 rebounds against the Huskies, hitting on 9 of his 13 shots from the field, and had 16 points against Texas Tech, going a perfect 7 for 7 from the floor. His tremendous leaping ability (a team-high 40.5 inches running) led to many earth-shaking, rim-rocking dunks, many of which were consistently seen on ESPN highlights and top-ten plays.
Coming to Noise tryouts along with Isma'il will be his former Yellow Jacket teammate, Theodis Tarver, as well as his older brother Aleem Muhammad. Tarver is a 6'9" center who will bring some size and power to the Knoxville Noise. He is an outstanding shot blocker and an excellent post defender. He was a member of the 2003-2004 Georgia Tech squad that reached the Final Four in the NCAA tournament. Aleem, a former Mercer Bear, was second team, all conference in the Atlantic Sun Conference his junior and senior years. He finished second in the conference his senior year in 3 pt. field goal percentage, shooting an amazing 47.2 percent, good enough for 6th all-time in the conference record books.
Two members of the Knoxville Noise family, team President Ashley Raiteri and his father Mark Raiteri are former Yellow Jackets themselves. When asked how he felt about these former Georgia Tech players potentially joining the team, Ashley responded, "I'm so excited to have these talented players possibly playing for the Noise. I've been following Georgia Tech basketball for years and knowing that they might be coming to play for my team is just amazing."
The Knoxville Noise will be holding tryouts May 20th from 9am-6pm at the UT HYPER building on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The tryouts are open to the public and additional information can be found on www.knoxvillenoise.com or www.abalive.com.
Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.
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American Basketball Association Stories from May 8, 2006
- Riptide free agent camp crucial - Oregon Riptide
- Potential Noise signee Isma'il Muhammad ready to play - Knoxville Noise
- Buzz announce move to Carson - Maywood Buzz
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