A brief mention of Carter in China for REACH USA
"Illinois' Alex Legion and Dominique Keller were on the eight-man roster, along with Southern Illinois' Carlton Fay, Minnesota's Paul Carter and Western Kentucky's A.J. Slaughter."
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/131244825
Also here is a Google reference re Carter getting into foul trouble in China from an Illini Board.
http://news.google.com/news?um=1&ned=us&hl=en&q="paul+carter"+china+foul+trouble+
UNI ARTICLE BELOW
**** BTW --- UNI's Kwadzo Ahelegbe is from Tartan
UNI Guards Get a Look at China
June 08, 2009
By Matt Coss, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa
Jun. 8--CEDAR FALLS -- For the past three weeks, University of Northern Iowa basketball players Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Ali Farokhmanesh have been inseparable.
"Normally, you'd think you'd want to choke somebody after 20 straight days," Farokhmanesh said, "and it wasn't like we were (not) together for that time. We were right next to each other for about every minute of those days."
Ahelegbe and Farokhmanesh were among eight players to represent Sports Reach Ministry on an exhibition tour in China that concluded last week. Reach USA, coached by Illinois director of basketball operations Sean Harrington, went 5-2-1 on the trip.
Illinois' Alex Legion and Dominique Keller were on the eight-man roster, along with Southern Illinois' Carlton Fay, Minnesota's Paul Carter and Western Kentucky's A.J. Slaughter.
"Sometimes it's difficult to play with a group of guys that you don't know, so you're a little uncertain of the role you're going to play," said Ahelegbe, a junior-to-be, "but we all got along and everybody was real unselfish."
In late April, UNI head coach Ben Jacobson received a phone call from former SIU assistant Rodney Watson, who said the team was in need of a point guard and combo guard.
After Jacobson contacted Ahelegbe and Farokhmanesh, the two jumped at the offer of an all-expense-paid trip.
"At first, I was extremely excited, but a little hesitant," said Farokhmanesh, a senior-to-be. "I didn't know if I wanted to be gone for that length of time. In the end, I'm glad I did it."
Meanwhile, the schedule and travel were grueling.
The team had to travel anywhere from four to five hours per day, by air and bus, to reach its next playing destination.
"They said it was like a professional basketball schedule, but I know professional basketball isn't like that," Farokhmanesh said. "We were getting like five hours of sleep a night.
"We definitely got mentally tougher from being over there."
The basketball was competitive. Each averaged close to 10 points and six assists per game.
"It was grown men, so they're going to compete," Ahelegbe said. "The pride factor is a little different because they're getting paid for it.
"Plus, there's a lot more freedom with the international game."
More so than the basketball, the trip allowed the two to experience a new culture. They visited the Great Wall of China and Terracotta Warriors.
"That's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Farokhmanesh said. "The people were so nice over there."
The food left something to be desired.
"My stomach didn't handle the authentic Chinese food very well," Farokhmanesh said. "It was a strict rice and bread diet for a while."
However, Ahelegbe said the three weeks with Farokhmanesh was beneficial.
"He saved me a couple times on that trip," Ahelegbe said. "There were times when I was getting a little homesick, and Ali would slap me out of it.
"I definitely got to know my two-guard a lot better. For 20 days, we were like a couple."
SCHEDULING UPDATE: UNI is still looking for possibly two games to fill out its non-conference schedule for this coming winter. The Panthers will open the regular season Friday, Nov. 13, at Denver.
After that, UNI will play three games in the Paradise Jam at the U.S. Virgin Islands, starting with DePaul on Nov. 20. The Panthers' home opener won't be until Saturday, Nov. 28, but an opponent hasn't been determined.
"November 28 and December 5 are the two (open) dates right now," Jacobson said. "We want to get the 28th filled for sure."
Unlike past seasons, Jacobson said there is a chance the Panthers won't play a non-Division I opponent this season.
UNI has December home games against Iowa (Dec. 8), Siena (Dec. 12) and Wyoming (Dec. 23), along with road tilts at Iowa State (Dec. 2) and North Dakota (Dec. 19).
EXTENSION LOOMING?: Jacobson said "a lot of progress" has been made on a contract extension, but nothing has been finalized. Talks between Jacobson, the Missouri Valley Conference's Coach of the Year, and UNI athletic director Troy Dannen have been ongoing for more than two months.
"I hope to have something done here within two weeks," said Jacobson, who has the lowest base salary (approximately $150,000) of any men's basketball coach in the Valley at a public institution.
Has it taken longer than he anticipated?
"If you would have asked me that two months ago, my answer would be, 'Yes,'" he said. "Going through this for the first time at this length and talking to others that have gone through this, they've had the same type of experience.
"We want to have it put together the right way, and I feel good about the steps taken."
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