Question for IWB re: Pro-Am

[WarhawkWarrior]

Any news you can share about signees for the Pro-Am?

[IWB]

We are building a strong field. As far as MU players go, the entire team will be there, Wesley Matthews will be back, Trend Blackledge, Dwight Buycks and more. As far as more NBA players go, I have been getting some calls, just a matter of working out schedules.

Some of the top surprise players from last year return including fan favorite Floyd Bayhia, Justin Simmons etc etc

A pretty solid chunk of UWM's team, a few guys from UWGB, TJ Bray from Princeton.... former UWM players Avery Smith, Deion James, Ricky Franklin..... former Louisville star Jerry Smith..... the hits keep coming!

[Hamostradamus]

Floyd was one of my favorite players from last year. He was a really solid player, scored when his team needed it, and always made sure to shake everyone's hand at the scorer's table. Genuinely nice guy. Watching Drew Windler improve from game to game was cool. Haarsma from UWM looked pretty tough, interested to see him after a year of redshirting.

[nyg]

We are building a strong field. As far as MU players go, the entire team will be there, Wesley Matthews will be back, Trend Blackledge, Dwight Buycks and more. As far as more NBA players go, I have been getting some calls, just a matter of working out schedules.

Some of the top surprise players from last year return including fan favorite Floyd Bayhia, Justin Simmons etc etc

A pretty solid chunk of UWM's team, a few guys from UWGB, TJ Bray from Princeton.... former UWM players Avery Smith, Deion James, Ricky Franklin..... former Louisville star Jerry Smith..... the hits keep coming!

Will that include Mayo, Anderson and Derrick Wilson?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I'm good for 2-3 trips up the floor before I have to cherrypick, play porous defense and can't shoot.  What team am I on?

[4everwarriors]

I'm good for 2-3 trips up the floor before I have to cherrypick, play porous defense and can't shoot.  What team am I on?

Dude, that's on a good day. You'd be lucky to ride the pines for the 3rd grade girls team at Our Lady of Perpetual Motion.

[Stronghold]

Never been to the Pro-Am( plan on attending some games this year) and was just wondering if any of the MU coaching staff is allowed at things like this or do the players run the show?

[IWB]

Yes, Wilson, Anderson & Mayo are all registered. Jake Thomas has not registered yet, but he said he would play.

As far as the coaches go - Coaches are allowed to check in on their guys. Buzz was there one day last year as was Rob Jeter. Both seemed to think it was very worthwhile for their guys.

As far as coaches go, you can't use college coaches, and if you used any coaches, you would have to get them all certified through the NCAA. So, last year what I did was named two captains for each team - one college player, one post college player. It seemed to work well. This year I polled the players and asked if they wanted to move to coaches or stay with captains, and majority said they felt it worked well, was fair, and wanted to stay with the captains.

Funny thing is, when you get a close game, these guys start to coach. Last year there was a close game with about 1:30 left, one team called a timeout and came back out in a zone D. It threw off their opponent and helped them pull out the W.

[bilsu]

I never saw Buzz there, but his wife and kids were there.

[Skatastrophy]

I never saw Buzz there, but his wife and kids were there.

I saw Buzz the first Saturday up at Homestead.  He was easy to miss because he was sitting off to the side taking notes or something. 

[WarhawkWarrior]

Thanks for the response, hope you can keep us up to date.  You have done a great job with this event.

[IWB]

Thanks Warhawk - just a small update, Jake Thomas did register since I posted as did Ousmane Barro.

[Nukem2]

Thanks Warhawk - just a small update, Jake Thomas did register since I posted as did Ousmane Barro.

Is Zar going to play...?

[lurch91]

Dom or Jerel playing this year?

[IWB]

Working on Zar. I don't think Dominic will be in Milwaukee long enough and I believe Jerel is playing in the Chicago Pro-Am.

Continuing to work on all of them though.

[Boone]

Isn't the NBA effectively in lock-out mode for the summer? With no NBA-sanctioned summer camps to play in, why wouldn't Lazar play?

[IWB]

The NBA lockout has not occurred yet. For guys like Zar, well, he doesn't exactly live in Milwaukee, so it depends on whether or not his schedule works with our schedule.

[Boone]

The NBA did cancel one of their summer camps (Vegas) already, though. Not sure of the others.

[pbiflyer]

I'm good for 2-3 trips up the floor before I have to cherrypick, play porous defense and can't shoot.  What team am I on?

Well, I make up for my lack of leaping ability with a lack of quickness and speed.