Want to be an X-Man?

MARYSVILLE – The team’s formal training camp is a few months away, the actual season a full five months distant.

Yet there were still plenty of high hopes on display Sunday morning when the fledgling Everett Explosion, an expansion team in the 23-team International Basketball League, held a tryout practice at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

Thirty-six players were on hand, many products of Snohomish County high schools. Some already have spots on the team, like guards Antwon Jones and Ashley Robinson, and forward Mike Nowell. The rest, though, were bidding for five contracts that were promised from this workout.

Those contracts, said Nathan Mumm, the team’s CEO and general manager, will probably be for around $20,000. The IBL’s minimum contact, he said, is around $10,000, ”but we’re hoping to pay a little bit more … so we can be a little more competitive.”

That may not be quite enough to live on, but it’s not bad pocket money for playing a game many of these guys would probably be playing anyway.

One of Sunday’s hopefuls was forward Mark Arington, a onetime standout at Edmonds-Woodway High School. The 26-year-old Arington, who played briefly in college, has spent the last few years ”trying out for teams and trying to see where I fit.”

Arington, who still lives in Edmonds and has a job driving a delivery truck, says he has never had a professional contract, so getting paid to play ”is obviously a goal. But my main thing is to get my foot in the door and play somewhere. Before I was always trying to go for the big money, but now I need to take one step at a time.”

One of the older players at Sunday’s tryout was 36-year-old Curtis Carter, a guard who played last season for the IBL’s Cedar Valley Jaguars in Waterloo, Iowa. Carter traveled to the workout from his home in Santa Ana, Calif., and was fortunate to leave with a contract for the coming season.

The tryout, Carter said, ”is definitely nerve-wracking … but hopefully the cream rises to the top.”

”Basically I plan to help this organization win a championship,” he added. ”When you win, scouts come and watch. You move up (to higher levels of pro basketball) when you win. So my attitude is to come in and win, because winning is the name of the game.”

Also offered a contract on Sunday was forward Corby Schuh, formerly of Central Washington University and currently an assistant basketball coach at Everett Community College.

Those were the only contracts awarded on Sunday. Several other players are still in contention for the other three spots, Mumm said.

Explosion head coach Randy Redwine said his goal is to acquire players ”that have the team concept. At this level, you have a lot of guys that think they can come in and score. But we’re looking for guys that want to do whatever it takes to win. Things like making the extra pass, boxing out (for rebounds) and diving on the floor for a loose ball.

”I was really pleased with the turnout, ”he said. ”A lot of guys showed me a lot of character and (that they understand) the team concept. And the Snohomish (County) area was represented really well today. There’s some talented ballplayers in this area.”

The team will carry between 12 and 15 players on the active roster, plus have another three to five players on a practice squad.

The Explosion will play a series of exhibition games in March and will open the regular season on April 7.

The IBL is a fast-paced, high-scoring league, with average scores of around 120 points per game, so the Explosion wants players ”who are in condition, who can get up and down the floor, who can shoot well, and who can be high-flying and dunk the ball,” said Brad Sturlaugson, a Shorecrest High School graduate who is the team’s associate head coach and the director of operations.

As much as that, though, the Explosion wants its players to be ”ambassadors in the community,” Sturlaugson said. ”Obviously the athleticism of these players is key, but along with that is how well they fit in with what we plan to do in the community.”

If players have legal problems or are bad role models, ”then we’ll deal with that, and we’ll be swift on how we deal with that,” he said. ”Because the public image of our team is going to be very important. We feel that is a foundation for us being here for years and years to come.”