Summer of playing for men’s hoops
By Daily Bruin Staff
Aug. 18, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 18, 1996
Team members go to camps looking to improve their skillsBy Rick
Banks
Summer Bruin Contributor
Whoever said life was not fun and games probably never spent any
time in Los Angeles. They definitely never spent an off-season with
UCLA’s men’s basketball team.
This summer, several Bruins spent their time playing. Playing
ball, that is. In an effort to gain some momentum going into the
1996-97 season, beginning in November, several key players competed
in various tournaments, leagues and camps.
Toby Bailey is one of the finalists for U.S.A. Basketball’s
22-under team that will be travelling to Puerto Rico to compete in
a qualifying tournament for the Confederation of Pan American
Basketball Association’s men’s 22-under world championships next
summer.
Bailey joins such collegiate standouts as Wake Forest’s Tim
Duncan, Tulsa’s Shea Seals and Stanford’s Brevin Knight on a team
coached by Mike Montgomery of the Cardinal.
The 12-member squad begins play on Aug. 22 against Panama and
takes on Uruguay and Puerto Rico in preliminary competition to set
up a round-robin finale. Only the top four teams will qualify for
the championships in 1997.
Brandon Loyd returned on Sunday from a tour of Japan. He was
competing on a team comprised of Pac-10 players and coaches. The
team, coached by Washington State’s Kevin Eastman, featured one
player from every Pac-10 school, with the exception of
California.
Bob Myers was set to be the UCLA representative on the team, but
was replaced by Loyd after a bad back forced him out of the
competition.
Over the past week, Jelani McCoy has been honing his skills in
Hawaii. The sophomore participated in the renowned Pete Newell Big
Man Camp. Newell’s camp is designed to teach centers how to improve
their footwork and show the players how to utilize their size to
its maximum effectiveness.
As a way to improve their overall game, several collegiate and
NBA stars attend the camp, which is held yearly in Honolulu. Among
the other participants are UCLA alumnus and current Charlotte
Hornet, George Zidek, as well as former Bruin, turned Long Beach
State 49er, Ike Nwankwo.
Several other Bruins, including Cameron Dollar and Charles
O’Bannon, participated in the Say No College Summer League at
California State Los Angeles. In the championship game, O’Bannon
scored 41 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, to lead Entertainment
Tonight over Team Say No by a score of 112-107.
***
A Pac-10 women’s all-star team, including UCLA guard Tawana
Grimes, also traveled to the Far East. They participated in a
seven-day, four-game tour through Japan.
UCLA Sports Info
Toby BaileyUCLA Sports Info
Brandon Loyd
