Six-foot-9 NBA hopeful suits up for Pals

Former Fresno State’s Noel Felix, among the last cuts in the San Antonio Spurs camp before the start of the 2004-2005 NBA season, has been hired as Talk n Text’s new import in the 2005 Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference.

The 6-foot-9 Felix, who likewise nearly made the Phoenix Suns lineup in 2003, arrived last Saturday and debuts with the Phone Pals in a road game versus the Alaska Aces in Cagayan de Oro on March 31. Curiously, Alaska is also parading a new import in that game in former Chicago Bull Dickey Simpkins.

A native of Los Angeles, California who played high school ball at Inglewood, the 25-year-old center-forward replaced Earl Ike who led the Phone Pals to a 2-1 (win-loss) start in the season-ending tourney.

But in a move that would give them more options, the Talk n Text management just relegated Ike to the injured list. This allows coach Joel Banal to put Ike back in his lineup anytime should Felix turn out to be a dud.

But team manager Frankie Lim said Felix has been impressive in practice.

"He’s athletic with a good medium-range shot. He can jump and seems to possess the skills we need from our import," said Lim of their new import.

Felix is no stranger to stints outside the United States, having played with the Shanghai Sharks (Yao Ming’s former team) in the Chinese league and with the Carife Ferrara squad in Italy.

His impressive stints in the Chinese league and later on with the Idaho Stampede in the CBA might have been the reason why he was invited to attend the San Antonio camp. He played with the Spurs in the Rocky Mountain Revenue in Salt Lake City last year.

Described as "very athletic and runs the court well" by the phoenixsuns.com, Felix was also among the last cuts in the Phoenix camp prior to the 2003-2004 NBA season.

That was right after his senior year at Fresno State where he averaged 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds a game.

In his third year in 2001-02, he started in 29 of 34 games, averaging 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds. He recorded his first career double-double with an 11-point, 10-rebound performance against SMU, had a career-high 17 points in the McCaffrey Classic game against UC Riverside and posted double digits in points in 14 contests.

As a high school player, he helped Inglewood to a 30-4 record and a berth in the state semifinals. He led the team with 4.5 blocks shots per season while scoring 15 points a game and grabbing 11 rebounds per contest.