New York point guard Lamont “Momo” Jones spent the last couple of days visiting Florida and will land in Arizona Thursday night.
The 5-foot-11 Jones got his release from USC after Tim Floyd stepped down and will likely land at Arizona or Florida. Memphis is also interested but sources say he likely won’t land there.
Jones’ Godfather is on the Arizona staff.
GORDON TEARS TENDON
Drew Gordon of UCLA partially tore the patellar tendon in his right knee during tryouts for the U.S. team that will play in the Under-19 world basketball championships, the AP reported.
There were no immediate details about his prognosis, the school said.
“It is an unfortunate event, but Drew is a resilient kid and he’ll get through it,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said in a statement.
USA BASKETBALL ROSTERS NAMED
USA Basketball named the 12-man roster for the 2009 World University Games to be held July 2-11 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Named to the 2009 USA Men’s World University Games Team were: James Anderson (Oklahoma State / Junction City, Ark.); Talor Battle (Penn State / Albany, N.Y.); Trevor Booker (Clemson / Whitmire, S.C.); Craig Brackins (Iowa State / Palmdale, Calif.); Da’Sean Butler (West Virginia / Newark, N.J.); Corey Fisher (Villanova / Bronx, N.Y.); Lazar Hayward (Marquette / Buffalo, N.Y.); Robbie Hummel (Purdue / Valparaiso, Ind.); Quincy Pondexter (Washington / Fresno, Calif.); Deon Thompson (North Carolina / Torrance, Calif.); Evan Turner (Ohio State / Chicago, Ill.); and Jarvis Varnado (Mississippi State / Brownsville, Tenn.).
“It was one of the most difficult decisions we as a committee have had because the team is so balanced,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “It’s probably one of the better groups of wing players we have had and all the guys are great players. It looks to be one of our most competitive teams for the World University Games. We have good shooters and athletic wing guys, which gives this team a good chance to compete.”
University of Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan was selected head coach of the 2009 USA Men’s World University Games Team, with Frank Haith of the Miami and Rob Jeter of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee serving as assistant coaches.
U19 TEAM NAMED
In other USA Basketball news, 12 players were selected for the U19 team that will compete in the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship July 2-12 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Selected to represent the United States at the FIBA U19 World Championship were: DeAngelo Casto (Washington State / Spokane, Wash.), Seth Curry (Duke / Charlotte, N.C.), Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh / Scotch Plains, N.J.) , Gordon Hayward (Butler / Brownsburg, Ind.), Shelvin Mack (Butler / Lexington, Ky.), Darius Miller (Kentucky / Maysville, Ky.), Arnett Moultrie (UTEP / Memphis, Tenn.), John Shurna (Northwestern / Glen Ellyn, Ill.), Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas / Jersey City, N.J.), Howard Thompkins (Georgia / Lithonia, Ga.), Klay Thompson (Washington State / Ladera Ranch, Calif.) and Terrico White (Mississippi / Memphis, Tenn.).
“I think this is a well-balanced team. They’ll have to get the job done as a team. They may not have a star-caliber player, but they have a lot of very good players. At this stage the U19 team looks like they will work very well together. All of the U19 trials participants played very hard throughout the trials. There has been no lack of effort, and that’s a good sign,” Jim Boeheim said.
“We’re a pretty good shooting team from the perimeter and we have some big guys who can shoot the ball, so I think that’s going to be a strength,” said USA U19 National Team and University of Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon. “I’m concerned that we don’t really have experienced point guards, but I think we’ve got some wings that can make some plays.
FREE THROWS **Stan Heath completed his coaching staff at South Florida by hiring former Kentucky assistant Jeremy Cox and former Towson assistant Eric Skeeters. **Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna will hold their annual 8-on-8 soccer game in New York June 24 to benefit the Steve Nash Foundation. Tony Parker, Jason Kidd, Chris Bosh, Grant Hill and Raja Bell are slated to be in attendance. **RecruitingRumors.com reports that Oklahoma State commit Karron Johnson hasn’t qualified and will enroll at Moberly Community College in Missouri this season. James’ advisor, James Black, said Johnson was enrolled in summer school right now and had no further comment. “We were advised not to talk to anyone right now,” Black said. (Photos courtesy Rivals, USA Basketball)