|
2003 USBL College Draft
by
Vince Pellegrini, Jr.
The United States Basketball League
is the longest running minor
league professional basketball organization. This is the league's
eighteenth season and is gaining more interest each year. When the
USBL began
in 1985 it was strictly a New England regional sports league. Today
there are
teams in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas
as well
as next year's expansion franchise in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The season
runs
from the middle of April to late June.
In December 1984, a 33 year old by
the name of Daniel T.
Meisenheimer, III founded the United State Basketball League. He was
the
youngest Commissioner in any sports league. His venture was to give
the fans
an exciting brand of basketball at an affordable rate. Also the
players a
chance to showcase their abilities to the NBA.
The USBL has been known for some of
their non-basketball players who
have competed during the summer months. For instance, R&B singer R.
Kelly;
boxing champion Roy Jones, Jr.; NFL wideouts Randy Moss and Terrell
Owens;
and the 1993 Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward have all played in the
league. One may think that the USBL is just a sideshow circus that
doesn't
care about what's going on on the floor but what's going on at the
ticket
gates. How wrong you are if you think that. The USBL is the "League of
Opportunity". You only need to ask some of the NBA personnel and they
will
tell you that this league generates a lot of talented players. Some of
those
who have made it big at the next level are Manute Bol, Michael Adams,
Muggsy
Bogues, Hot Rod Williams, Spud Webb, Avery Johnson, Anthony Mason and
Darrell
Armstrong just to name a few. Hoping for that same success at the pro
ranks
are the seniors leaving college this spring.
The 2003 USBL Collegiate Draft is
where the future starts. The eight
round draft was held on Tuesday, April 15. The Texas Rim Rockers and
the
Westchester Wildfire chose first and second respectively. Both are
expansion teams this year. The Rim Rockers are coached by former NBA
star
Robert Reid and have Hornet guard David Wesley in their ownership
group.
Texas chose Texas Christian's 6'9 forward Bingo Merriex with the
number one
selection in the draft. Merriex played in 27 games averaging 30.7
minutes. He
averaged 12.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest. He shot 42% from
the field
and 52% from the line this season. The Horned Frogs finished the year
with a
9-19 record. The Wildfire selected next and they picked up DePaul's
Sam
Hoskin. The 6'9 forward participated at the Portsmouth Invitational
Tournament last week. He averaged 15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds during
the
four day stretch in Virginia. The Brooklyn Kings chose third and they
went
with a player right in their own backyard in St. John's Anthony
Glover. Many
will remember the big game the six foot six forward had against the
Duke Blue
Devils at Madison Square Garden in late February.
The one selection which will stand
out as a sore thumb in tomorrow's
papers was the second round selection of the Brevard Blue Ducks when
they
picked high school star LeBron James from Akron St. Vincent-St.
Mary's. This
is unlike the NBA Draft where 99% of the players picked will play in
the
league. In the USBL, however, its' a hit or miss type selection
process. The
players' selected for the most part are contacted by the teams who
have
chosen them. The league will help NBA clubs distinguish whether or not
an
undersized player can play at the next level. It helps a player from a
smaller school stand out. Not always do players look at it in that way
but
the USBL has and always will be a springboard for players to make that
jump
to the Association.
In the eight round draft, twenty-two
of the seventy-three players
chosen had participated in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. The
Dodge
City Legend went for post players to complement guards Donny Boyce
(Colorado)
and Lazarus Sims (Syracuse). The Legend picked three centers in
Louisville's
Marvin Stone, South Florida's Antonio Meeking, and Uche Nsonwu-Amadi
of
Wyoming. The Brooklyn Kings went with a New York flavored draft by
selecting
four players from New York, two from New Jersey and one from
Pennsylvania.
The Rim Rockers went with three big time scorers players in the late
rounds
in SMU's Quinton Ross, Boston College's Troy Bell, and Drew Nicholas
of
Maryland.
Now that the draft has come and gone
it's onto opening day on
Thursday, April 17 with the battle for Kansas between the Dodge City
Legend
and the Kansas Cagerz at Bicentennial Center in Salina. Here's a look
at the
draft pick by pick.
2003
USBL College Draft
*participated at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament
Round 1
1. Texas Rim Rockers - Bingo Merriex (6'9 F/TCU)
2. Westchester Wildfire - Sam Hoskin (6'9 F/DePaul)*
3. Brooklyn Kings - Anthony Glover (6'6 F/St. John's)
4. Dodge City Legend - Melvin Sanders (6'5 G/Oklahoma State)
5. Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs - Willie Chandler (6'5 G/Misericodia)
6. Oklahoma Storm - Quannas White (6'1 G/Oklahoma)*
7. Adirondack Wildcats - Jackie Rodgers (6'8 F/Massachusetts)
8. Kansas Cagerz - Chris Davis (6'5 F/North Texas)
9. Brevard Blue Ducks - Donta Richardson (6'2 G/Wyoming)
10.Brevard Blue Ducks - Myron Allen (G/North Dakota)
Round 2
11.Westchester Wildfire - Travis Watson (6'8 F/Virginia)*
12.Brooklyn Kings - Clifford Strong (6'7 F/St. Francis NY)
13.Dodge City Legend - Pervis Pasco (6'9 F/Kansas State)
14.Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs - Matt Logie (6'5 G/Lehigh)
15.Oklahoma Storm - Vincent Bridgewater (F/Tarlton State)
16.Adirondack Wildcats - Davont Jackson (G/Barbour Sotia)
17.Kansas Cagerz - Brandon Brown (6'8 F/Tulane)
18.Brevard Blue Ducks - LeBron James (6'8 F/Akron St. Vincent-St.Mary)
19.Texas Rim Rockers - Moses Malone Jr. (6'4 G/South Carolina State)
Round 3
20.Brooklyn Kings - Kareem Wright (6'9 F/Rutgers)
21.Dodge City Legend - Pawal Storozynski (6'8 F/Texas Tech)
22.Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs - Rob Battle (6'8 F/Drexel)
23.Oklahoma Storm - Brett Blizzard (6'4 G/UNC Wilmington)*
24.Adirondack Wildcats - Justin Brown (7'0 C/Connecticut)
25.Kansas Cagerz - Larry House (6'4 G/Creighton)
26.Brevard Blue Ducks - Mike Manciel (6'5 F/Central Michigan)
27.Texas Rim Rockers - Jerome Beasley (6'10 C/North Dakota)*
28.Westchester Wildfire - Victor Williams (5'10 G/Oklahoma State)*
Round 4
29.Dodge City Legend - Marvin Stone (6'10 C/Louisville)
30.Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs - Terry Taylor (6'8 F/Virginia Tech)
31.Oklahoma Storm - Clay Tucker (6'3 G/UW Milwaukee)*
32. Adirondack Wildcats - Micah Brand (6'11 C/Massachusetts)
33.Kansas Cagerz - Gilson DeJesus (6'5 G/Kansas State)
34.Brevard Blue Ducks - Jermaine Hall (6'5 F/Wagner)
35.Texas Rim Rockers - Quinton Ross (6'6 G/SMU)*
36.Westchester Wildfire - Jerome Coleman (6'2 G/Rutgers)
37.Brooklyn Kings - Kasib Powell (6'7 F/Texas Tech)*
Round 5
38.Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs - Chris Monroe (6'3 G/George
Washington)*
39.Oklahoma Storm - Ebi Ere (6'5 G/Oklahoma)
40.Adirondack Wildcats - Kueth Duany (6'6 F/Syracuse)*
41.Kansas Cagerz - Robby Ballarol (G/Emporia State)
42.Brevard Blue Ducks - Joel Cornette (6'9 F/Butler)
43.Texas Rim Rockers - Troy Bell (6'1 G/Boston College)
44.Westchester Wildfire - Leonard Stokes (6'6 G/Cincinnati)
45.Brooklyn Kings - Chris Stockwell (6'8 F/St. Francis NY)
46.Dodge City Legend - Will McDonald (6'11 C/South Florida)*
Round 6
47.Oklahoma Storm - Bernard King (6'5 G/Texas A&M)
48.Adirondack Wildcats - Willie Deane (6'1 G/Purdue)
49.Kansas Cagerz - Manny Clifton (F/Washburn)
50. Brevard Blue Ducks - Brett Nelson (6'3 G/Florida)*
51.Texas Rim Rockers - Jahari Harris (G/Texas Southern)
52.Westchester Wildfire - Edward Scott (6'0 G/Clemson)*
53.Brooklyn Kings - Antawn Doble (6'0 G/Long Island)
54.Dodge City Legend - Antonio Meeking (6'8 F/Louisiana Tech)*
55.Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs - Don Little (C/Cincinnati)
Round 7
56.Adirondack Wildcats - Phil Sellers III (F/St. Rose)
57.Kansas Cagerz - Eric Bush (5'10 G/UAB)
58.Brevard Blue Ducks - Torrey Butler (6'3 G/Coastal Carolina)
59.Texas Rim Rockers - Drew Nicholas (6'3 G/Maryland)*
60.Westchester Wildfire - Rick Apodaca (6'3 G/Hofstra)
61.Brooklyn Kings - Ugonna Onyekwe (6'8 F/Pennsylvania)*
62.Dodge City Legend - James Jones (6'8 F/Miami FL)*
63.Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs - Jeff Howard (C/Jacksonville)
64.Oklahoma Storm - Theron Smith (6'8 F/Ball State)
Round 8
65.Kansas Cagerz - Nick Moore (6'1 G/Toledo)
66.Brevard Blue Ducks - Larry Razzle (6'6 F/Pepperdine)
67.Texas Rim Rockers - Ryan Randle (6'9 F/Maryland)*
68.Westchester Wildfire - Josh Iserloth (F/Wisconsin)
69.Brooklyn Kings - Dan Lieberman (G/Farleigh Dickinson)
70.Dodge City Legend - Uche Nsonwu-Amadi (6'10 C/Wyoming)
71.Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs - Jimmy Miggens (6'6 G/Pepperdine)
72.Oklahoma Storm - Kevin Johnson (6'8 F/Tulsa)*
73.Adirondack Wildcats - Marcus Banks (6'1 G/UNLV)
For more information on the USBL visit their web site at http://www.usbl.com
E-Mail the Author:
Vince Pellegrini Jr.
|
