Cameron University Athletic Director James Jackson announced Tuesday morning that the school had received a resignation from men's basketball coach Wade Alexander and that he had appointed assistant Nate Gamet to lead the team in its bid to win the Lone Star Conference Tournament that opens today.

So, in a dramatic development, Gamet will now be calling the signals when the team faces West Texas A&M at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon at the Allen Events Center in Allen, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas.

Jackson issued the following statement but would not answer questions, including ones about the strange timing of the move right before the biggest games of Alexander's Cameron career.

"Wade Alexander has tendered his resignation as Cameron's head men's basketball coach, effective immediately. I have appointed Nate Gamet as interim head coach for the rest of the season and I have total confidence in his ability to direct our team. I am looking forward to Coach Gamet leading our Aggies as we head to the Lone Star Conference tournament this Wednesday."

The Constitution learned that the men's players were called together Monday evening and given the news by Jackson and Gamet. That was just hours before they were scheduled to awake and make the charter bus trip to Allen early yesterday morning.

While Jackson wouldn't discuss why Alexander would resign saying it was a "personel matter" he did say that the players seemed "very upbeat and excited" when they learned that Gamet was taking over the program for the remainder of the season.

Which may not end with just the Lone Star Conference Tournament. The Aggies are currently ranked No. 5 in the South Central Region of NCAA Division II and the top eight teams advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament. It is not known how many games the Aggies need to win at the Lone Star Tournament to preserve that ranking, or even improve it, but from past experience it would seem that the Aggies need to win at least one game to fall in a 50-50 class, while winning twice and making the finals make it almost impossible to keep them out of the National field.

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