---UB sophomore forward Javon McCrea was released from the USA Basketball Under 19 World Championship Team today.
McCrea had made the original cut from 21 players to 13 players and coach Paul Hewitt indicated McCrea was the last player cut from the team.
“The selection was harder than I expected," Hewitt said. “The young man we decided not to keep, Javon McCrea, it was really just a numbers situation, he played more than well enough to make the team. We just didn’t feel comfortable going over there without three point guards.”
Said UB coach Reggie Witherspoon: “This experience will benefit Javon in three ways; exposure, competition and instruction. When you add up these three things, it will result in great experience moving forward.”
---UB sophomore Javon McCrea is one of 13 players named as finalists for the 2011 USA Men’s U19 World Championship Team. The selections, which were made by the USA Basketball Junior National Team Committee, came after three-days, four training sessions, during the U19 Team training camp that got underway Friday. The USA squad will look to defend the gold medal won in 2009 at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship that runs June 30-July 10 in Latvia.
Training camp for the selected finalists continues today through Thursday with the official 12-member USA U19 roster being announced prior to the team’s departure for Europe on Friday.
---UB's Javon McCrea has been invited to attend the 2011 USA Basketball Men's U19 World Championship Team training camp. The sophomore from Newark is one of 21 of the country’s best 19-and-under players invited to the camp.
The camp will be held June 17-24 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be used to select the 12-member team that will represent the United States at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship. The finalist will be announced June 19.
The FIBA U19 World Championship will be held June 30-July 10 in Valmiera, Liepaja and Riga Latvia.
---Former UB players Josh Thomas and Peter Bittner will participate in senior all-star games in the next few weeks. Thomas, a three-year starter at cornerback, will play in the East-West Shrine Game this Saturday in Orlando while Bittner will play in the Dixie Gridiron Classic in St. George, Utah on Feb. 5.
---Toledo's defense is beginning to turn it up. A much maligned unit in 2009, the Rocket's defense
allowed 533 yards of offense and 41 points in the opening loss to
Arizona. But last Saturday, yielded just 13 points and 183 yards of
offense in the MAC opener at Ohio.
---Bucky Gleason writes about Christian Laettner, the former Nichols School All-American and Angola native, who takes a place in history Friday when the Dream Team is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In November, the former Duke star enters the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
---The Mid-American Conference is a league in transition and Temple, who returns the most talent, will dominate the headlines.
---Syracuse junior point guard Scoop Jardine is part of the 20 player USA Men's Select Team that will train
against the 2010 USA Basketball Men’s National Team during its July
19-24 training camp in Las Vegas, Nevada.
---Sad news out of Kentucky with the passing of Melvin Turpin of an apparent suicide. Turpin's NBA career washed out quickly because he couldn't control his weight, which earned him the nickname "Dinner Bell Mel" but when he played at Kentucky alongside Sam Bowie and Kenny "Sky" Walker, Turpin possessed some serious offensive tools in the low post. During his Kentucky career, Turpin recorded three of the best six single-season
shooting percentages in school history. His best — 61.7 percent in 1982-83,
ranks third in school history. The way he performed at Kentucky is the way I choose to remember Melvin Turpin.
Western New York native Bob DiCesare covers UB football, Big 4 basketball and writes an occasional column. He still holds a grudge against Chris Ford who, he's convinced, cost St. Bonaventure the 1970 NCAA basketball championship.
Rodney McKissic began his journalism career in 1989 after graduating from the University of Cincinnati and has worked for The Buffalo News since 2001. A proud father of four children, he enjoys reading in his spare time.
Amy Moritz, a native of Lockport, hhas covered colleges for The Buffalo News since 1999. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism/mass communication from St. Bonaventure University and a master’s degree in humanities from the University at Buffalo. An endurance athlete, she has completed several triathlons, half marathons and marathons.
