‘Special talent’ Pattillo back in the fold
The Windsor Express is bringing back another former player for this season and it might not be the last. The Express acquired the rights to forward Juan Pattillo from the expansion Sudbury Five for the rights to Canadian forward Grandy Glaze, who played for the St. John’s Edge last season and was acquired by Windsor last week for the rights to guard Maurice Jones.
“We’re planning on signing (Pattillo),” said Bill Jones, who is head coach and vice-president of basketball operations for the Express. “We’re in talks and hopefully we can get a deal done by next week.” The 30-year-old Pattillo spent the 2016-17 season with the Express and averaged 18.06 points and 10.65 rebounds per game in 34 games.
The six-foot-six, 225-pound Pattillo started last season in Finland, but finished with the Moncton Magic, who traded his rights to Sudbury for a first-round pick. “Juan, if you look at his stats last year, had a couple of 30-point games and 10-plus rebounds,” said Jones, whose team will open training camp on Nov. 1. “Juan is a special talent.”
Jones also announced the team has signed former Herman high school product Miroslav Jaksic, who was the first pick of the second round in this year’s NBL of Canada Draft. A six-foot-11, 220-pound forward, the 23-year-old Jaksic finished his college career at Oklahoma Christian University last season.
He also said the club is in talks with former centre DeAndre Thomas, who spent three seasons with the club. Thomas started last year with London, but finished in the U.S. with the Albany Patroons in The Basketball League.
GENERALS SIGN SBROCCA
LaSalle goalie Matthew Sbrocca has signed with the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals. The 16-year-old Sbrocca, who played for the Windsor Junior Spitfires, was a seventh-round pick by the Generals in April’s Ontario Hockey League Draft.
“I’m extremely proud to have signed with such a storied franchise as the Generals,” the six-foottwo, 212-pound Sbrocca said. “It’s a real dream come true to have an opportunity to play in the OHL for a Class A organization like the Oshawa Generals.”
JUNIOR SPITFIRES WIN
The Windsor Junior Spitfires minor bantam major team won the gold division final at the West Michigan Classic hockey tournament in Grand Rapids, Mich. Windsor took the title with a 3-1 win over the Ashburn Xtreme from Virginia. The Junior Spitfires reached the final with a 4-2 win over the Birmingham Rangers.
The club opened the tournament with a 3-1 win over the West Dundee Leafs, a 6-0 win over the Orland Park Vikings, a 2-2 tie with the Chicago Blues and a 4-1 win over Jimmy Johns.