Joseph, Ashaolu to Take Part in Final Four Activities
EUGENE, Ore. -- Two University of Oregon men’s basketball players will participate in postseason activities at this weekend’s 2012 NCAA® Men’s Final Four® in New Orleans. Devoe Joseph will play in the 2012 Reese’s Division I College All-Star Game. Olu Ashaolu will compete in the Denny’s Slam Dunk event as part of the 24th Annual State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships.
The 2012 Reese’s Division I College All-Star Game features 20 of the nation’s most outstanding seniors from NCAA Division I, and is selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The game will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome this Friday, March 30 at 1:35 p.m. (PT). The game is scheduled to be televised on TruTV this Saturday, March 31 at 10 a.m. (PT).
Joseph, from Toronto, Ontario, was named to the West All-Star team. He is one of two Pac-12 players on that squad, joined by California’s Jorge Gutierrez. Joseph, who averaged a team-high 16.9 points per game, reached double-figures in scoring in UO’s last 20 games (and 27 of the 28 games he played in this past season). Complete East and West rosters listed below.
The 24th Annual State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships will take place at Tulane University’s Fogelman Arena this Thursday, March 29, with activities beginning at 6 p.m. (PT). The event will be televised live on ESPN this Thursday.
Ashaolu, from Toronto, Ontario, is one of seven players confirmed for the dunk competition, a list that includes: Miles Plumlee (Duke), Kenny Gabriel (Auburn), DeQuan Jones (Miami), William Mosley (Northwestern State), James Justice (Martin Methodist) and David Kyles (Wichita State).
This year, fans will be the “Fifth Judge” during the Denny’s Slam Dunk Championship by voting via Twitter. Fans can vote on every dunk by simply tweeting #CollegeSlam, followed by the player’s last name and a score between one and ten (E.g. #CollegeSlam #Smith10). From there, Mass Relevance, the technology leader in social curation and integration, will calculate all fan scores and deliver an average rating via their platform. That rating will be presented as the “Fifth Judge” and paired with four celebrity judges’ scores to make up each player’s total score.
Click here for more information on the 24th Annual State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships. The event can be found on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CollegeSlam.
Reese’s WEST ALL-STAR TEAM
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. College/Hometown
2 Casper Ware G 5-10 175 Long Beach State, Cerritos, CA
4 Jorge Gutierrez G 6-3 195 California/Chihuahua, Mexico
10 Dominique Morrison F 6-6 210 Oral Roberts/Kansas City, MO
12 Devoe Joseph G 6-4 180 Oregon/Toronto, Ontario
14 Bradford Burgess G/F 6-6 225 VCU/Midlothian, GA
20 Wendell McKines F 6-6 230 New Mexico State/Oakland, CA
22 Storm Warren F 6-7 230 LSU/Monroe, LA
24 Chace Stanback G/F 6-8 215 UNLV/Los Angeles, CA
30 Robert Sacre C 7-0 260 Gonzaga/North Vancouver, BC
32 Ricardo Ratliffe F 6-8 240 Missouri/Hampton, VA
Reese’s EAST ALL-STAR TEAM
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. College/Hometown
1 Scott Machado G 6-1 180 Iona/Queens, NY
11 Juan Fernandez G 6-4 195 Temple/Rio Tercero, Argentina
13 Ramone Moore G 6-4 190 Temple/Philadelphia, PA
15 Kevin Murphy G 6-7 185 Tennessee Tech/Atlanta, GA
21 Jae Crowder F 6-6 235 Marquette/Villa Rica, GA
23 John Shurna F 6-9 215 Northwestern/Glen Ellyn, IL
25 Keith Wright F 6-8 240 Harvard/Suffolk, VA
31 Garrett Stutz C 7-0 255 Wichita State/Kansas City, MO
33 Henry Sims C 6-10 245 Georgetown/Baltimore, MD
35 Mitchell Watt F 6-10 225 Buffalo/Goodyear, AZ
About the National Association of Basketball Coaches
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Forrest “Phog” Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.org.
