MORGANTOWN - Cleaning out a crowded notebook and a cluttered mind while trying to avoid heat stroke:
Devin Ebanks won't officially pull on a jersey issued by the Los Angeles Lakers and play a regulation game until Friday night, when the organization's summer league team plays its first game in Las Vegas.
If he's at all nervous about it, though, one would be hard pressed to tell. Ebanks the pro seems as nonchalant as Ebanks the collegian always was.
There's a reason, he says. Playing two years for Bob Huggins and doing it in the Big East and the NCAA tournament prepared him for a lot.
"I think it helped a lot, especially going to the Final Four,'' Ebanks said. "I've learned how to play in big games. In the NBA you play in a lot of big games and a lot of situations. It's different circumstances, of course, but [it helps] playing in big games and knowing what to do.''
Don't get the wrong idea about the NBA Summer League. This is not Kobe and LeBron and the boys. In fact, the most recognizable names on the Lakers' roster are the team's two draft picks, Ebanks and former Louisville and UTEP forward Derrick Caracter.
The summer league is basically a place where draft picks, free agents and wannabe NBA players go through just five games and try to leave their mark. For guys like Ebanks, it's a chance to get a head start on training camp. For many others, it's a chance just to be invited to a camp.
For instance, Ebanks' teammates in the summer league include D.J. Strawberry, the former Maryland guard who played token minutes for the Phoenix Suns two years ago, and former Notre Dame forward Rob Kurz, who played at Golden State a year ago.
There will be another former West Virginia player in the summer league, too. No, it's not Da'Sean Butler, whose knee won't be ready to go for several months yet.
It's Mike Gansey, who played in the NBA Developmental League last season and was selected for an 11-player D-League all-star team.
For his part, Ebanks has spent much of his time since being drafted by the Lakers in Los Angeles, working out and getting to know people and becoming acclimated. After spending two years in Morgantown, L.A. is a switch.
"Yeah, it's a little different,'' Ebanks said. "But I'm from New York City, so L.A. won't be a big transition for me. But yeah, it's very different from West Virginia.''
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Ebanks eases into summer league with Lakers kids
MORGANTOWN - Cleaning out a crowded notebook and a cluttered mind while trying to avoid heat stroke:
Devin Ebanks won't officially pull on a jersey issued by the Los Angeles Lakers and play a regulation game until Friday night, when the organization's summer league team plays its first game in Las Vegas.
If he's at all nervous about it, though, one would be hard pressed to tell. Ebanks the pro seems as nonchalant as Ebanks the collegian always was.
There's a reason, he says. Playing two years for Bob Huggins and doing it in the Big East and the NCAA tournament prepared him for a lot.
"I think it helped a lot, especially going to the Final Four,'' Ebanks said. "I've learned how to play in big games. In the NBA you play in a lot of big games and a lot of situations. It's different circumstances, of course, but [it helps] playing in big games and knowing what to do.''
Don't get the wrong idea about the NBA Summer League. This is not Kobe and LeBron and the boys. In fact, the most recognizable names on the Lakers' roster are the team's two draft picks, Ebanks and former Louisville and UTEP forward Derrick Caracter.
The summer league is basically a place where draft picks, free agents and wannabe NBA players go through just five games and try to leave their mark. For guys like Ebanks, it's a chance to get a head start on training camp. For many others, it's a chance just to be invited to a camp.
For instance, Ebanks' teammates in the summer league include D.J. Strawberry, the former Maryland guard who played token minutes for the Phoenix Suns two years ago, and former Notre Dame forward Rob Kurz, who played at Golden State a year ago.
There will be another former West Virginia player in the summer league, too. No, it's not Da'Sean Butler, whose knee won't be ready to go for several months yet.
It's Mike Gansey, who played in the NBA Developmental League last season and was selected for an 11-player D-League all-star team.
For his part, Ebanks has spent much of his time since being drafted by the Lakers in Los Angeles, working out and getting to know people and becoming acclimated. After spending two years in Morgantown, L.A. is a switch.
"Yeah, it's a little different,'' Ebanks said. "But I'm from New York City, so L.A. won't be a big transition for me. But yeah, it's very different from West Virginia.''
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MORGANTOWN - Cleaning out a crowded notebook and a cluttered mind while trying to avoid heat stroke:
Devin Ebanks won't officially pull on a jersey issued by the Los Angeles Lakers and play a regulation game until Friday night, when the organization's summer league team plays its first game in Las Vegas.
If he's at all nervous about it, though, one would be hard pressed to tell. Ebanks the pro seems as nonchalant as Ebanks the collegian always was.
There's a reason, he says. Playing two years for Bob Huggins and doing it in the Big East and the NCAA tournament prepared him for a lot.
"I think it helped a lot, especially going to the Final Four,'' Ebanks said. "I've learned how to play in big games. In the NBA you play in a lot of big games and a lot of situations. It's different circumstances, of course, but [it helps] playing in big games and knowing what to do.''
Don't get the wrong idea about the NBA Summer League. This is not Kobe and LeBron and the boys. In fact, the most recognizable names on the Lakers' roster are the team's two draft picks, Ebanks and former Louisville and UTEP forward Derrick Caracter.
The summer league is basically a place where draft picks, free agents and wannabe NBA players go through just five games and try to leave their mark. For guys like Ebanks, it's a chance to get a head start on training camp. For many others, it's a chance just to be invited to a camp.
For instance, Ebanks' teammates in the summer league include D.J. Strawberry, the former Maryland guard who played token minutes for the Phoenix Suns two years ago, and former Notre Dame forward Rob Kurz, who played at Golden State a year ago.
There will be another former West Virginia player in the summer league, too. No, it's not Da'Sean Butler, whose knee won't be ready to go for several months yet.
It's Mike Gansey, who played in the NBA Developmental League last season and was selected for an 11-player D-League all-star team.
For his part, Ebanks has spent much of his time since being drafted by the Lakers in Los Angeles, working out and getting to know people and becoming acclimated. After spending two years in Morgantown, L.A. is a switch.
"Yeah, it's a little different,'' Ebanks said. "But I'm from New York City, so L.A. won't be a big transition for me. But yeah, it's very different from West Virginia.''
I mentioned here the other day that there was a bit of a silent push within the Big East to encourage Villanova to upgrade its football program to the FBS level.
While that move alone certainly wouldn't elevate the football part of the league to the point where it could stave off future raids on its memberships, it would go a long way toward placating the current football members in regard to establishing a balanced schedule (four home and four road opponents each year) and reducing the number of non-conference games needed each year.
Boy, do Villanova people take the issue personally, and with no seeming consensus.
Of the e-mails I received, they were generally split down the middle. One side points out the obstacles to such a move (not the least of which are a suitable on-campus facility and the nature of Philadelphia as a pro sports town) and the general apathy toward football shown by Villanova fans and the school's administration. The other faction seems to agree, but counters that the apathy is a result of games against FCS-level competition.
In other words, Villanova basketball would stink, too, if the competition was no good. Play a big-time schedule and the support will be big time.
It's hard to argue definitively on either side, but it does point to the obstacles facing Villanova in making such a move. It's obviously not an easy decision, but if it ever happens it would solve at least a few of the league's football issues.
And finally, back to the NBA, where both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are headed to Miami and LeBron James could be joining them.
No matter what happens, it would seem to bode well for Da'Sean Butler, who was drafted in the second round by the Heat.
It's all about the salary cap. Just as is the case with the Lakers and Ebanks, Miami is going to be close to the cap. Both teams are going to need to fill roster spots with guys making the NBA minimum, preferably a few making the rookie minimum, which is in the $450,000 range.
Again, yes, both Butler and Ebanks would have been better off going in the first round of the draft, where the money is guaranteed for at least two years and is in the millions. But if you fall into the second round (which both did), it doesn't seem like there are many better places to be than Los Angeles and Miami, both of which will be desperate for cheap labor.
And don't you wish you were in a profession where cheap means a half mil?
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Ebanks eases into summer league with Lakers kids
MORGANTOWN - Cleaning out a crowded notebook and a cluttered mind while trying to avoid heat stroke:
Devin Ebanks won't officially pull on a jersey issued by the Los Angeles Lakers and play a regulation game until Friday night, when the organization's summer league team plays its first game in Las Vegas.
If he's at all nervous about it, though, one would be hard pressed to tell. Ebanks the pro seems as nonchalant as Ebanks the collegian always was.
There's a reason, he says. Playing two years for Bob Huggins and doing it in the Big East and the NCAA tournament prepared him for a lot.
"I think it helped a lot, especially going to the Final Four,'' Ebanks said. "I've learned how to play in big games. In the NBA you play in a lot of big games and a lot of situations. It's different circumstances, of course, but [it helps] playing in big games and knowing what to do.''
Don't get the wrong idea about the NBA Summer League. This is not Kobe and LeBron and the boys. In fact, the most recognizable names on the Lakers' roster are the team's two draft picks, Ebanks and former Louisville and UTEP forward Derrick Caracter.
The summer league is basically a place where draft picks, free agents and wannabe NBA players go through just five games and try to leave their mark. For guys like Ebanks, it's a chance to get a head start on training camp. For many others, it's a chance just to be invited to a camp.
For instance, Ebanks' teammates in the summer league include D.J. Strawberry, the former Maryland guard who played token minutes for the Phoenix Suns two years ago, and former Notre Dame forward Rob Kurz, who played at Golden State a year ago.
There will be another former West Virginia player in the summer league, too. No, it's not Da'Sean Butler, whose knee won't be ready to go for several months yet.
It's Mike Gansey, who played in the NBA Developmental League last season and was selected for an 11-player D-League all-star team.
For his part, Ebanks has spent much of his time since being drafted by the Lakers in Los Angeles, working out and getting to know people and becoming acclimated. After spending two years in Morgantown, L.A. is a switch.
"Yeah, it's a little different,'' Ebanks said. "But I'm from New York City, so L.A. won't be a big transition for me. But yeah, it's very different from West Virginia.''
