Four "veteran" players highlight the Utah Jazz's 16-man rookie/free-agent camp roster.
Forward Bryon Russell, center Greg Ostertag and guards Jamie Watson and Howard Eisley will be on hand when camp opens Monday at Westminster College. Players will participate in double sessions through Wednesday, practice once Thursday, then - after the roster is trimmed to 10 or 12 players - open play in the Jazz's Rocky Mountain Revue summer league on Friday.Also attending camp will be swingman Shandon "Rod" Anderson, who was the Jazz's second-round pick in the June NBA Draft, and three players with local ties: Ken Roberts, a 6-6 forward from BYU; Ruben Nembhard, a 6-3 guard from Weber State; and Reggie Ingram, a 6-2 guard from Southern Utah.
Roberts was a two-time All-WAC first-teamer; Nembhard was the Big Sky Conference player of the year for the 1994-95 season and played last year in Germany; Ingram, a four-year starter at Southern Utah, made the All-America West Conference first team as a senior.
There are a couple of other familiar names on this camp roster. Justus Thigpen, a 6-2 guard, is making his third appearance in a Jazz camp. Last year he played for the CBA's Connecticut Pride. Another returning camper is Reggie Jackson, a 6-6, 240-pound forward from Nicholls State who played well in last year's Jazz veterans' camp before being cut. Playing for the CBA's Rockford Lightning (where he was briefly a teammate of Eisley), Jackson finished eighth in the league in rebounding.
Besides Anderson, the only other true rookie on the roster is Donta Bright, a 6-6 forward from UMass who averaged 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds, shooting 47.9 percent from the field, as a senior.
The other campers are: Bruce Chubick, a 6-7 forward from Nebraska who played for the CBA's Omaha Racers last season; Clinton Holtz, a 7-footer who played collegiately at George Washington and Niagara; Reed Jackson, a 6-5 forward from Evansville who played in Turkey last season; James Scott, a 6-6 forward from St. John's who played in France last year; and Corey Williams, a 6-8 forward who was the 1995 Div. II player of the year at Norfolk State, where he averaged 19.8 points, 7.8 rebounds.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
1996 Utah Jazz summer camp roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. College Years pro
40 Shandon Anderson F 6-5 Georgia '96 rookie
4 Donta Bright F 6-5 Massachusetts '96 rookie
4 Bruce Chubick F 6-7 Nebraska '94 free agent
10 Howard Eisley G 6-2 Boston College '94 2
25 Reggie Ingram G 6-2 Southern Utah '96 rookie
51 Clinton Holtz C 7-0 Niagara '93 free agent
20 Reed Jackson F 6-5 Evansville '95 free agent
40 Reggie Jackson F 6-6 Nicholls State '95 free agent
30 Reuben Nembhard G 6-3 Weber State '95 free agent
00 Greg Ostertag C 7-2 Kansas '95 1
33 Kenneth Roberts F 6-8 Brigham Young '96 rookie
3 Bryon Russell F 6-7 Long Beach St. '93 3
5 James Scott F 6-6 St. John's '95 rookie
11 Justus Thigpen G 6-2 Iowa State '93 free agent
15 Jamie Watson F 6-7 South Carolina '94 2
43 Corey Williams F 6-8 Norfolk State '95 free agent