OMAHA -- The normally patient Omaha Racers overhauled their backcourt today, adding two new guards and subtracting three.
The two newest Racers are 19-year-olds Thorn Hunt
(13191578) , a shooting guard from Towson Generals, and Garfield Steen
(13192955) , a point guard from Indiana All-Stars. Both players were in uniform for tonight's game with Gulf Coast Shrimps; Steen did not play, while Hunt had an inauspicious 1-for-8 shooting night.
Leaving the club were first-round draft pick Alexander Cornell
(13193301), third-round draft pick Ricky Fortin
(13193295) , and Merle "Charlie Haggard" Daniels
(11769836). Cornell joined a top-flight team in the Dominican Republic for a $280,000 transfer fee; Fortin and Daniels moved to USA.V clubs for a combined $11,000.
The departure of Cornell represents yet another failure of the Racers' player development program. After four drafts, only David Mobuta and this year's second-round pick Timmy Quigley remain with the team. Both are backups.
Perhaps more surprising than the departures was the news of who stayed in Omaha. 19-year-old Marco Antonio Carrera, whose lack of development and perceived surliness have frustrated the team, was rumored to be on the transfer market but is still with the team. 36-year-old Cristian Miguel Bracco, a once-great Division IV player whose declining skills have left him on the bench most of this season, is also not being shopped.