Cowboys Battle California All-Stars in Exhibition Contest

Oklahoma State opens its 1997-98 season with an exhibition against the California All-Stars on Tuesday. The Cowboys are beginning a quest for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 1995 team reached the Final Four. Only three players on this year's Cowboy team have more than one year of Division I experience, and those three -- Chad Alexander, Adrian Peterson and Brett Robisch -- will be called on to lead this season's young squad.

About the California All-Stars
The California All-Stars are 1-8 heading into Monday night's game with Kansas State. The team, which is made up of former college players hailing from the state of California, has played the following schedule:

Date Opponent W/L Score High Scorer Nov. 1 at Loyola Marymount W 114-105 Higgins, Miller 21 Nov. 2 at Pittsburgh L 85-92 Miller 21 Nov. 3 at Florida L 71-86 Higgins 14 Nov. 4 at Tennessee L 83-96 n/a Nov. 5 at N.C. State L 62-72 Quinet 14 Nov. 6 at LSU L 67-76 Martinez 17 Nov. 7 at UMKC L 72-84 Allen 18 Nov. 8 at Wichita State L 73-80 Allen 16 Nov. 9 at Missouri L 78-89 Dawson 16 Nov. 10 at Kansas State Nov. 11 at OSU Nov. 13 at TCU Nov. 14 at South Florida Nov. 15 at Jacksonville Nov. 17 at Florida International

Postgame procedure
The Oklahoma State locker room is closed to the media. However, selected OSU players and head coach Eddie Sutton will be brought to the sports information office for postgame interviews. If you have any questions, please contact OSU coordinator of media relations Will Hancock.

On the Air
Saturday's game will be broadcast on the OSU Radio Network with Tom Dirato and Bill Teegins calling the action. Dirato and Teegins are in their seventh year as the Cowboys' basketball radio team, and Dirato is calling OSU men's basketball for the 21st season in 1997-98.

Head Coach Eddie Sutton
Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State, 1958) has coached for seven years at his alma mater with a 157-70 record at the school as well as a 587-234 overall mark in his 27th year of collegiate coaching. Sutton finished the 1996-97 season ranked ninth in total victories and 18th in winning percentage among active Division I coaches with at least 10 years' experience. Under his guidance OSU has advanced to postseason play in six of the last seven years and has won 17 games or more each season. Only three coaches -- Bobby Knight, Dean Smith and John Wooden -- won more games than Eddie Sutton in their first 27 years as head coaches.

Years School (No. of Years) Record Pct. Conf. NCAA 1970-74 Creighton (five) 82-50 .621 --- 2-1 1975-85 Arkansas (11) 260-75 .776 139-35 10-9 1986-89 Kentucky (four) 88-39 .693 48-24 5-3 1991-97 Oklahoma State (seventh) 157-70 .692 59-39 10-5 Totals 27th year (820 games) 587-234 .715 246-98 27-18 Sutton at Oklahoma State Year Record Conf./Finish NCAA Final AP Notes 1990-91 24-8 10-4/First 2-1 14th OSU's second Big 8 championship 1991-92 28-8 8-6/T-Second 2-1 11th Second straight Sweet 16 1992-93 20-9 8-6/T-Second 1-1 23rd Big Eight Coach of the Year 1993-94 24-10 10-4/Second 1-1 19th 1994-95 27-10 10-4/Second 4-1 14th Final Four/Nat'l Coach of the Year 1995-96 17-10 7-7/T-Fourth --- --- 1996-97 17-15 7-9/T-Sixth --- --- First career NIT appearance

Probable Oklahoma State Starters

Pos .No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PPG RPG Notes F 34 Desmond Mason 6-6 207 So. 4.5 2.5 Started 12 games as a freshman F 45 Alex Webber 6-10 257 So. 4.6 3.5 Started freshman season-opener; missed half of '96-97 with injury C 31 Brett Robisch 6-11 255 Sr. 9.8 6.4 Averaged 12.4 points, 7.5 rebounds over second half of 1996-97 G 12 Chad Alexander 6-3 193 Sr. 5.3 1.7 Besides former walk-on Warner, final remaining Final Four player G 20 Adrian Peterson 6-4 197 Jr. 14.0 3.5 Seventh-leading Big 12 returning scorer

Probable Calif. All-Stars Starters

Pos. No. Name Ht. College PPG RPG F 24 Brad Quinet 6-4 San Jose St. 9.6 2.6 F 32 Jason Henderson 4.3 3.8 C 44 Tyrone Davis 6-8 Kansas St. 5.3 7.5 G 12 Jason Martin 5-11 Texas Tech 7.6 3.6 G 23 Chris Dawson 12.7 1.7

OSU starters based on returning players with most starts in 1996-97; OSU stats are from 1996-97. California All-Stars starters based on most recent game; stats do not include Tenn. game)

Final 1996-97 Big 12 Standings

Big 12 All Games W L Pct. W L Pct. Kansas 15 1 .938 34 2 .944 Colorado 11 5 .688 22 10 .688 Iowa State 10 6 .625 22 9 .710 Texas 10 6 .625 18 12 .600 Oklahoma 9 7 .563 19 11 .633 Nebraska 7 9 .438 18 15 .545 Oklahoma State 7 9 .438 17 15 .531 Baylor 6 10 .375 18 12 .600 Missouri 5 11 .312 16 17 .485 Kansas State 3 13 .250 10 17 .370 Texas A&M 3 13 .188 9 18 .333 Texas Tech* 10 6 .625 19 9 .679

Around the Big 12 (all times CST)

Tuesday, November 11
California All-Stars at Oklahoma State, 7:05 p.m. (Exh.)
Texas vs. Princeton, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, November 12
Texas vs. Georgia/N.C. State, 5:30/8 p.m.

Thursday, November 13
North Melbourne at Texas A&M, 7 p.m. (Exh.)
Arkansas Express at Texas Tech, 7 p.m. (Exh.)

Friday, November 14
Santa Clara at Kansas, 7:05 p.m.
Western Carolina at Kansas State, 7:05 p.m.
Australia Team at Missouri, 8 p.m. (Exh.)

Oklahoma State University Athletics