The official website of the Charlotte Bobcats are confirming that the team has signed ex-Bull Corey Benjamin to a contract.  Benjamin was able to impress the Bobcats with his versatility during the summer league where he played four different positions in five games.

?Corey Benjamin is a player we believe can help our team with his athleticism and ability to play multiple positions on the court, both offensively and defensively,? Bickerstaff said. ?We think our situation is a great fit for Corey and he will contribute in many ways. ?

?I am very excited about this opportunity with the Bobcats. I?m going to come in and work hard,? Benjamin said. ?I want to bring energy and do whatever is necessary to spark the team offensively, defensively, on the court or in the locker room.?

The Bobcats have signed Emeka Okafor, the team?s historical first-ever pick and second overall selection in the 2004 NBA Draft, it was announced by Bobcats General Manager and Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

?We are happy to have Emeka signed to a contract and ready to play basketball,? Bickerstaff said. ?He is a fine young man and we are proud to have him represent our franchise and our country, both on and off the court.?

The Bobcats moved up in the draft on June 21 by trading their fourth and 33rd selections to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for the second overall pick and agreeing to select center Predrag Drobnjak in the Expansion Selection.

Okafor led the University of Connecticut to the NCAA Championship in April and captured Most Outstanding Player honors at the Final Four after scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in the national championship game against Georgia Tech. The First Team All-American led the nation in blocked shots with 4.1 per game and averaged 17.6 points and 11.5 rebounds (fourth in the country). The National Association of Basketball Coaches named him co-National Player of the Year and National Defensive Player of the Year.

In three seasons at UConn, he helped lead the Huskies to an overall record of 83-23 for a .783 winning percentage, and led his teams to the 2004 NCAA Championship, the 2003 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 and 2002 NCAA Elite Eight, two Big East Conference regular season titles or cochampionships (2002 and 2003), and two Big East Tournament championships (2002 and 2003).

The 21-year-old Houston native also excelled in the classroom at Connecticut. The academic All-American graduated in three years with a 3.7 GPA and a degree in finance.

Okafor is currently training with USA Basketball?s Senior National Team that will compete in the Olympics in Athens, Greece. He joins NBA All-Stars Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan and Stephon Marbury on the team that will compete for the gold medal.

The 2004 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team began pre-Olympic training today at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, and will spend the 18 days leading up to the 2004 Athens Olympics training in Jacksonville (July 26-31); Cologne, Germany (Aug. 1-4); Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro (Aug. 5-6); Istanbul, Turkey (Aug. 7-12), and will play a total of six exhibition games.

It is the second consecutive summer for Okafor to wear the red, white and blue uniform after leading the United States in the 2003 Pan American Games. Okafor paced the U.S. in scoring, averaging 12.0 points, while adding 2.7 rebounds, a team-high 1.4 blocks and shooting 68.3 percent (28-41 FG) from the floor.

The Detroit Pistons will take home ESPY awards from sports network ESPN for Best Team, Best Upset and Best Coach/Manager (Larry Brown) when the July 14 show is broadcast across the nation July 18 at 9 pm. Eastern Time.

Other NBA related awards will go to Charlotte Bobcats forward Emeka Okafor (Best Male College Athlete), Cleveland Cavaliers guard LeBron James (Best Breakthrough), Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett (Best NBA Player) and Seattle Storm center Lauren Jackson (Best WNBA Player).

The Charlotte Bobcats signed their first two free agents today, General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff announced.  

Hart appeared in 53 games during the 2003-04 season with the San Antonio Spurs and averaged 3.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 12.5 minutes. He also recorded single-game career highs in points, assists and rebounds, including 14 points against the L.A. Lakers on Nov. 6, 2003 and eight assists and eight rebounds against Memphis on Nov. 3, 2003. He has also spent time with the Milwaukee Bucks, who drafted him 49th overall in the 2000 NBA Draft.

Slay, one of 19 picks by the Bobcats in last month's expansion draft, has played his entire career with the New Jersey Nets but his rights were owned by the Bobcats. The 6-8 forward was a member of the Bobcats? entry in the Minnesota Summer League he averaged 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in 19.0 minutes. He tallied a team-best 15 points in the opening game against Toronto and paced the squad with 11 points against Milwaukee.

The Pistons fell short of a perfect run at the Minnesota Pro Summer League, losing the finale Saturday to the undefeated Charlotte Bobcats, 78-74.

?These were all real good kids,? said Pistons assistant coach Dave Hanners. ?I would take any one of them on my team any time. I loved the way they competed.?

Much of the focus was on Paulding, who came on strong in the final three games. He led the team with 12.2 points and seven steals.

?As the week went on, he figured out what he can do in this league,? Dumars said. ?You have seen his confidence grow as the week went on.?

But Paulding wasn?t the only pleasant surprise. Three others may have earned another call from the Pistons in the fall.

?We got to see some young kids who had some very good moments,? Dumars said. ?First and foremost was Rickey. He had an excellent summer league. But a couple of others showed well, too.?

Those players were small forward Bryant Matthews, a rookie from Virginia Tech who led the Big East and was 11th in the nation in scoring last season; point guard Horace Jenkins, a 28-year-old rookie who averaged 20 points in Greece last season; and power forward Ruben Garces, who has played in Spain the last couple of years.

?Those guys really stood out to me,? Dumars said.

Matthews, who is 6-7 and extremely athletic, scored 28 points in the finale Saturday, despite missing seven free throws. He can also defend. He was 18th in the nation in steals last season, and had four on Saturday.

The Los Angeles Lakers have also invited Matthews to play on their summer league team.

Jenkins, who scored 16 points Saturday and led the team in assists all week (3.8), is a quick, penetrating point guard much in the mold of a Darrell Armstrong or Chucky Atkins.

He is expected to be invited to the Pistons training camp in October.

Garces and Detroit Henry Ford product Ken Johnson both played well enough, Dumars thought, to get offers from several NBA teams, if not the Pistons, whose front-court is well-stocked.

The Charlotte Bobcats named Jeff Capel as an assistant coach, it was announced today by Bobcats General Manager & Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff. Capel joins Gary Brokaw, John-Blair Bickerstaff, Gary Kloppenburg and John Outlaw on the coaching staff.

?I am very pleased to add Jeff Capel to our staff. Jeff is well-known and respected in basketball circles and he will be a perfect fit with our staff and players,? Bickerstaff said. ?He has achieved success wherever he has been as a coach, but more impressive is how he imparts his knowledge and relates to the players.?

Among Capel?s duties will be on-the-floor coaching and serving as an advance scout.

?I want to thank the Charlotte Bobcats and Bernie Bickerstaff for this wonderful opportunity. I?m thrilled to join a great coaching staff and to help build this team from the beginning. I will do whatever I can to help the team progress and succeed,? Capel said. ?My time in the NBDL was a very enjoyable experience and allowed me to realize my dream of coaching in the NBA.?

Capel joins the Bobcats after serving two-plus seasons as head coach of the Fayetteville Patriots in the National Basketball Development League, with a 69-61 (.531) record in that time. He took over the head coaching job midway through the Patriots inaugural season in 2001-02 and the following season, in his first full season, he guided the team to the NBDL Finals and a 32-18 record, tops in the NBDL regular season. Last season, Capel coached four players who earned a call-up to the NBA and still led the Patriots into the postseason.

Prior to the NBDL, Capel spent 12 years as a head coach at the collegiate level at Old Dominion, North Carolina A&T and Fayetteville State, with a combined record of 201-162 (.554).

Number two overall Draft pick Emeka Okafor isn't on the Bobcats' summer league roster.

Instead, he's gone to LA to prepare for the Olympics with a personal trainer.

"He's working on some individual skills and also our program," coach Bernie Bickerstaff said.

The Bobcats have concern that too much off-season activity will hurt Okafor's ability to compete once the NBA season starts.

"The Charlotte Bobcats have selected their summer league team, and top draft pick Emeka Okafor isn't on it."

"Okafor, the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft, has gone to Los Angeles to work with a personal trainer in preparation for Olympics."

"He's working on some individual skills and also our program," coach Bernie Bickerstaff said Monday.

Okafor will also not be joining the team when they go to Utah for more games. The Bobcats are worried that between the Olympics and summer league that Okafor could be worn out before the season even starts.

If the Charlotte Bobcats want free-agent point guard Jason Hart, Hart is theirs for the taking.

"I can make a deal today," Hart's agent, Bill Neff, told the Observer on Thursday.

That's because Hart's former employer, the San Antonio Spurs, chose not to make him a qualify offer. Had the Spurs done so, Hart would have been a restricted free agent, guaranteeing San Antonio the option to match another team's offer.

The Bobcats contacted Neff on Thursday -- the first day of NBA free agency -- to set up a time for Hart to visit Charlotte. Neff said that could happen either this week or after the Bobcats return from next week's summer league in Minneapolis.

The Bobcats have plenty of room under the salary cap and an obvious need for a point guard. Coach/general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said he'd likely explore Hart as an option before spending much time pursuing other point guards.

"The important thing there is to convey an interest," Bickerstaff said.