Update On James Peters

A day after James Peters was forced to sit out a game due to disciplinary reasons, he came back strong Butler County's 69-57 loss to Coffeyville C.C. on Sunday at the Jayhawk Shootout in Coffeyville, Kan.

The 6-8 Chicago native signed a national letter of intent this fall with UNLV, and his game has made strides in the past year.

Against the Red Ravens, Peters pumped in 15 points on six of 10 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots. Although he turned the ball over six times in the game according to the stat sheet, Peters did show an improved ability for putting the ball on the floor.

"His game has improved a lot," Butler Head Coach Dennis Helms said. "I thought he was on some emotional roller coasters today, and he needs to be more level with that. We need a lot of good minutes out of James this year."

Peters averaged 13 points and six rebounds for the Grizzlies last season as a freshman, helping Butler to an unexpected first place finish in the Jayhawk West Conference.

The Grizzlies started the season strongly, heading into the Jayhawk Shootout with an 8-1 ledger. But the offense looked extremely sluggish, and Butler certainly misses the presence of all-league performer Kasib Powell (now at Texas Tech).

As a result, Helms is hoping that Peters will continue to improve and enjoy a banner sophomore campaign in 2001-2002.

"If he keeps improving, I think he will be a fine player UNLV," Helms said. "He has a very good outside shot, but you might not have noticed that in today's game. He has to get confidence in that and take that shot, and we want him to do that, but we have to get cohesive in what we are doing for that to happen."