Feb. 27, 2008

Los Angeles, CA - The basketball experiences of Chris Knight and Peter Cornell will be given a whole new meaning as the former Loyola Marymount men's basketball players participated in the filming of SEMI-PRO, the latest film starring Will Ferrell. Knight plays as a member of the Spirits of St. Louis while Cornell has a larger role as the character Valkidis in the film opening in theaters this Friday, Feb. 29.

"SEMI-PRO," the new basketball comedy starring Ferrell, will be released nationally by New Line on February 29. In addition to Ferrell, the film also stars Woody Harrelson, Maura Tierney, Andy Richter, Will Arnett and Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000 from OutKast).

Knight played four seasons with the Lions and was a member of the Lions Elite Eight team in 1990. He played in 111 games in his career, ninth all-time in LMU history. He finished his career with 637 points, an average of 5.7 per game. He added 421 rebounds, 97 blocks and 96 steals.

Cornell played two seasons for the Lions in 1996-97 and 1997-98. He played in 54 games in two seasonts, averaging 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in that time. He also had 53 blocks.

Cornell plays Vakidis, Lithuanian powerhouse of the Tropics. "Vakidis is the first kind of foreign player to play in the ranks of professional basketball in the US," says Cornell. "I like to say my character is the pioneer of, uh, the eastern European invasion."

Cornell is the only principal player who had a professional background. "I played basketball at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. And I spent the last nine years in the NBA, the minor leagues, Europe, Australia and Japan and China. I've seen a lot and I've really enjoyed it. It's been a very exciting career."

"SEMI-PRO" takes place in the old American Basketball Association (ABA) of 1976 with Ferrell portraying Jackie Moon, a one-hit wonder rock-and-roll singer who used the profits from the success of his big hit to achieve his dream of owning a pro basketball team.

As owner, head coach and starting center of the fictional ABA Flint Tropics, Ferrell must quickly turn his last place team into winners once it is announced that the top four finishers in the ABA will be merged into the NBA, with the remaining ABA teams becoming defunct.

Other than Ferrell's Tropics, all other ABA teams depicted in the movie were actual league franchises including the Virginia Squires, San Antonio Spurs, New York Nets and the Spirits of St. Louis.