NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2007 – The NBA Development League announced today that the Tulsa 66ers will hold the first-ever open D-League team tryout in New York City, the home of one of their NBA parent teams, the New York Knicks. The event will take place at The City College of New York on Saturday, October 27, 2007 beginning at 9:00am.

The open team tryout will offer free agent athletes in the New York area the opportunity to compete for a place in the 66ers training camp, where they will vie with returning D-League players for a spot on the final 2007-08 roster.

The event in New York marks the first time that a D-League team has held an open tryout out of market in the hometown of its NBA parent team and comes on the heels of the creation of the 2007-08 NBA/D-League Affiliate Program. The program is a league-wide initiative that is aimed at bringing about more in-depth working relationships between D-league affiliates and their NBA parent clubs.

"Twenty-nine out of 30 NBA teams have either assigned a player to or called up a player from their D-League affiliate in the first two years of our affiliation system, which we're very proud of," said Dan Reed, D-League President. "Many teams have also taken it upon themselves to work together deeply on both business and basketball issues, and we're seeing these efforts really take off this season with our new affiliate program, as evidenced by this collaboration between the 66ers and the Knicks."

Local talent in New York will flaunt their basketball skills in front of Tulsa 66ers head coach Joey Meyer, who has had 12 players called up to the NBA on 15 different occasions during his six years in the D-League. Meyer joined the D-League for its inaugural season in 2001 coming off of a 13 year stint (1984-1997) as the head coach of the DePaul Blue Demons, where he posted a 231-158 record, including six 20-win seasons, and seven NCAA Tournament appearances. Coach Meyer will be joined by other members of the 66ers front office to watch D-League hopefuls take the next step in pursuit of their goals of playing in the NBA.

Open team tryouts, which are held regularly in D-League cities, have produced impressive talent, including Clay Tucker, who earned All D-League Honorable Mention for the 2006-07 and 2005-06 seasons, Terrance Thomas, Anthony Terrell, and Chet Mason.

“Local tryouts provide an excellent opportunity for players to compete at a high skill level and display their talents,” said Coach Meyer. “It’s exciting to see young basketball players competing for the opportunity to move closer to their NBA dreams.”

Registration fees for the tryouts are $150 per player, and are due by 5:00p.m. EST on October 26. Tryouts are limited to the first 150 players to register and registration fees may be paid in the form of credit card and money order only. No personal checks or cash will be accepted. For registration forms, please contact the 66ers from office at (918) 585-8444, or online at www.tulsa66ers.com.