Centenary has notified the Summit League it will leave the conference in 2011. The school avoids any penalties by giving a two-year notice. South Dakota is set to join the league in 2011, so it appears the league will stay at 10 teams

Losing Centenary is not a big loss for the Summit League. Remaining league members won’t miss the cost of traveling to Centenary’s Shreveport, La. campus. The Gents and Ladies have struggled in men’s and women’s basketball and most other league-sponsored sports. Centenary is also one of the smallest schools at the Division I level with less than a 1,000 students.

"The main reasons were financial and to find a conference more geographically appropriate," Centenary interim president Michael Easton told the Shreveport Times.

The Gents men’s basketball team is ineligible for postseason play next season because of poor Academic Progress Rate scores.

Oakland junior Keith Benson tested his skills against some of the top big men in the country as part of the Amare Stoudemire Skills Academy last week in Phoenix. Benson was one of 14 players invited to the prestigious camp, which featured instruction from NBA coaches and scouts.

“It meant a lot to be selected as one of the top big men around,” Benson said. “There were a lot of major schools there and it was just an honor. ... I didn’t really know a lot about it, but I was excited to get an opportuntiy to go there.”

Benson said he learned over 30 post moves at the camp and different ways to defend each one, as well as things NBA scouts look for when evaluating players. Stoudemire also stopped by to give the participants some pointers.

“It was good to see where I was against other people,” Benson said. “It was different not being the tallest one around and to matchup against them. I think I did well.”

Benson’s roomate was Kansas’ Cole Aldrich, who is projected to be a top five NBA draft pick next season.

The camp also featured Georgetown’s Greg Monroe, Virginia Commonwealth’s Larry Sanders and Tulsa’s Jerome Jordan — who are all projected to NBA draft picks next year by nbadraft.net — and Wake Forest’s Tony Woods, Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson and Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, who are projected to be NBA draft picks in 2011 by nbadraft.net.

Rounding out the camp was Jeff Allen (Virginia Tech), Denis Clemente (Kansas State), Dwayne Collins (Miami), Jeremy Lin (Harvard), Jerome Randle (California) and Calvin Stoudemire (LeMoyne-Owen College).

Oakland center Keith Benson was invited and is currently participating in the Amare Stoudemire Skilsl Academy, which is for the top big men in the country. Only 14 players in the country are invited so it's quite an honor for Benson to be invited. The other players participating can be viewed here.  I'll have more on this later in the week.

Oakland added to its recruiting class this week with what head coach Greg Kampe called the highest-rated recruit Oakland has ever signed in Ledrick Eackles of Zachary, La.

Eackles choose Oakland over Nebraska, UAB, Southern Miss and even Memphis recently showed interest in Eackles.

“We went outside of our comfort zone in recruiting,” Kampe said. “We went out of our area in who we recruit, which is a major step for us, forget that we got a really good player, we went and recruited a kid from Louisiana that had offers from BCS schools and Conference USA teams, and we got him. That’s a major step forward in who we can recruit. ... We recruited him hard. Darren Sorenson did a tremendous job. I flew to Boston to see him play, that’s something I usually don’t do.”

Eackles said the coaching staff and Oakland’s dribble-drive offense helped him decide Oakland was the right fit for him.

“I really like the coaching staff,” Eackles said. “I liked what they were looking for and I think I fit that description that perfectly. ... It’s a different style of basketball than I normally play. We press a lot in Louisiana. When I came up north, it was a different style. I like the offense Oakland runs, the dribble-drive. It’s a good offense for me because I can get to the basket.”

Eackles played last season for Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. Eackles averaged 12 points a game for Hargrave, helping lead them to a national runner-up finish in the preparatory school national championships, tallying 20 points in the title game and was named to the All-Tournament second team. Hargrave’s entire roster has committed to play Division I college basketball. Playing with so many Division I players has helped Eackles become a better player.

“Playing against the top kids in practice and learning different moves, it teaches you to play defense against different types of players, different talents and moves. And how to read players and study their moves,” Eackles said.

Kampe likes Eackles commitment to defense and his athleticism.

“He’s a tremendous athlete at 6-foot-1,” Kampe said. “His biggest strength is he has the potential to be a lock-down defender. His dad (Ledell Eackles) played in the NBA so he has the pedigree. He’s a shooter too.”

Eackles visited Oakland in late October and said he liked the campus and the players, who showed him around. But there is one thing he will have to get used to, “The only difference is the temperature,” Eackles said. It’s going to be a different atmosphere for me in the winter time.”

Eackles likely completes Oakland’s recruiting class. Kampe said the team has one scholarship left, but they don’t have any offers out for the 2009-10 class.

Former Oakland guard Tim Williams has signed to play with South Alabama after a one-year stint at Motlow State Community College. The following is a press release from South Alabama athletics.

Press release: Williams signs with South Alabama
MOBILE, Ala. — Tim Williams (Pontiac Northern) has signed a National Letter-of-Intent to play basketball at the University of South Alabama for the 2009-10 season, the school announced Tuesday.

Williams is a 6-foot-4, 205 wing and is transferring from Motlow State Community College in Lynchburg, Tenn. He played his freshman season at Oakland University. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

He enjoyed one of the best seasons in MSCC school history last year, becoming the first player in Motlow’s 40-year history to rank in the top 10 in scoring, scoring average, rebounding, rebounding average, assists and assists average all in the same year.

He led the Bucks by averaging 21.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game and converted a team-high 55 3-pointers and 52 steals.

Williams also inserted his name in MSCC’s single-game records with 38 points (eighth), 20 rebounds (fifth) and seven steals (fourth).

“Tim has great size and the athletic ability to be able to play two or three positions,” South Alabama head coach Ronnie Arrow. “He’s very versatile and has the ability to go inside or outside. He can shoot the 3 and can guard on the perimeter or inside. His signing will enable us to use him in a number of ways — as a defender and a scorer.”

Oakland added a familiar face to its recruiting class with the addition of guard Reggie Hamilton, who is transferring in from Summit League rival UMKC (University of Missouri-Kansas City). Hamilton plans to start summer classes next week at Oakland.

“I am pretty familiar with the program,” Hamilton said. “I like their style of play and coach (Greg) Kampe is a well-respected coach. The program has had a lot of success, and I think the coaching staff and the people they bring in are a big part of that. That’s why I had a lot of interest in the program.”

Hamilton left the UMKC program in late-January after meeting with the coaching staff and agreeing it wasn’t a good fit.

“Mostly the style of play, really didn’t fit me,” Hamilton said. “Me and the coaches agreed that it wasn’t a perfect fit for my style of play.”

Hamilton averaged 12.6 points and 3.6 assists per game in 21 games last season and 11.7 points, 3.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds as a freshman at UMKC.

After being granted his release from UMKC, Hamilton said he talked to the Oakland coaching staff and Oakland point guard Johnathon Jones.

“I talked to couple players,” Hamilton said. “I have a lot of respect for Johnathon Jones. He’s one of the best guards in the conference. To practice with him for one year will be great for me. I talked to him during the season (while at UMKC). I thought that was a big rival for me. We always had good games against each other. It will be great for me to learn from one of the better point guards in the league.”

Hamilton will have to sit out the 2009-10 season, but will have two years of eligibility after that. Hamilton said he gets asked a lot of what it will be like to go against his former team, but he’s not really worried about it.

“I have no hard feelings towards the UMKC program,” Hamilton said. “I’m still cool with the players. There will be no emotions going into that when I’m able to play again.”

Several other schools were interested in signing Hamilton, including Wichita State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa and Baylor.

Hamilton is originally from Chicago and attended Thornwood High School, the same high school as current New York Knicks center Eddy Curry.

Oakland senior Erik Kangas broke nearly every school record for 3-pointers this season. Now he is set to test his 3-point shooting prowess against the rest of the nation’s top shooters in the 21st annual ESPN College Slam Dunk and Three-Point Championships Thursday at 7:30 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Kangas is looking forward to the event and said he was honored to be one of the eight players chosen to compete in the 3-point championship.

“I think it’s a good story for the rest of my life that I was one of the few people chosen to be in one of these skills competitions,” Kangas said. “It’s pretty cool that I got in it because I’m at a small school, where you don’t get a lot of national press. It’s good to get my name out there and get Oakland’s name out there too.”

Kangas said he has practiced a few times to prepare for the event, but he is trying to stay loose and have fun with the event.

“I did some trial runs, just picking them off the rack and seeing what side of the rack I’m more comfortable with. Besides that I’ve just been shooting on my own, making sure I don’t get all-washed up,” Kangas said with a laugh.

“I found out that I like picking them up from the right side of the rack better. Also you shouldn’t watch your shoot go in the hoop, you just have to shoot it and pick up the next ball. You can’t waste all that time. … I’m going to do a set-shot too, I’m not going to do a jump shot so I can go quicker. I’m not going to rush my shot, but after I shoot it, I’m going to go get the next ball.”

With the 3-point shootout taking place a short drive from Oakland’s campus, Kangas expects a strong cheering section at The Palace.

“Everyone that I talk to on a regular basis said they are going,” Kangas said. “Student tickets are only five dollars so I’m expecting a big section.”

Kangas will have some stiff competition with Creighton’s Booker Woodfox, Miami’s Jack McClinton, Missouri’s Matt Lawrence, Northwestern’s Craig Moore, West Virginia’s Alex Ruoff, Rhode Island’s Jimmy Baron and perhaps the wildcard of the group Grinnell College’s John Grotberg taking part. Grotberg, an Ann Arbor native, hit 526 career 3-pointers for Division III Grinnell College, the highest total in college basketball history at any level. He is the first Division III player to earn an invitation to the event in its 21-year history.

Kangas said he doesn’t know any of the other competitors, but is looking forward to meeting them and he is also looking forward to the dunk contest.

“The dunk contest is one of those things that everybody likes to watch,” Kangas said. “I think it’s going to be even cooler to watch it in person.”

The dunk contest will feature Gonzaga’s Jeremy Pargo and Micah Downs, Marquette’s Wesley Matthews, Charlotte’s Charlie Coley III, New Mexico’s Tony Danridge, Central Florida’s Jermaine Taylor, Toledo’s Tyrone Kent and Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Terry Evans.

The women’s 3-point championship will feature Arizona State’s Briann January, Maryland’s Kristi Toliver, Iowa’s Kristi Smith, Georgetown’s Karee Houlette, Central Michigan’s Angel Chan, Iowa State’s Heather Ezell, Duke’s Abby Waner and Furman’s Melissa Liebschwager.