State players heading overseas

Mon, 08/22/2011 - 1:56am

Keith Kreiter, a Chicago-based agent, said one of his clients, Maurice Acker, is headed to Europe and another one, Brian Butch, may be as well.

Kreiter said Acker, a former starting point guard for Marquette, has signed a one-year contract with Matrixx Maggix in Holland.

Kreiter didn't disclose the amount of Acker's contact but said it was "fully guaranteed."

Kreiter said Butch, the former University of Wisconsin standout, has a couple of options but is "in talks with a cup team in eastern Europe." Kreiter didn't reveal the team.

Butch is on the comeback trail. After being selected the Most Valuable Player for the D-League's 2010 All-Star game last February and later signing with the Denver Nuggets, Butch ruptured his left patella tendon in the Las Vegas summer league last July. He hasn't played competitive basketball since then.

But Kreiter said Butch, 26, is ready to resume his career.

"Brian is 100 percent healthy again," Kreiter said. "He looks terrific."

Yet another former state college standout, Steve Novak, appears on the brink of signing with a team overseas. Novak, a former Marquette standout who finished last season with the San Antonio Spurs, told The Journal Times last week that his agent, Mark Bartelstein, had been in talks with teams in Spain and Russia.

n Like all NBA teams, the Bucks haven't been immune to the NBA lockout.

I've been told close to 20 Bucks employees have been dismissed or left on their own accord since the end of the season.

Remember Joe Alexander, whom the Bucks made the eighth overall selection in the 2008 draft?

He recently signed a one-year contract with BC Krasyne Kaylya Samara in Russia. Alexander's agent, Doug Neustadt, said there isn't any opt-out in the contract to allow Alexander to play in the NBA when the lockout ends.

Alexander finished last season playing for the Texas Legends in the D-League, averaging 20.2 points and 8.9 rebounds a game.

Bartelstein on the current NBA lockout: "It's not a good situation. Things aren't going in the right direction."

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