With the D-League draft tonight, yesterday was the busiest and noisiest day in the D-League since the summer as teams were announcing the initial invites for training camp featuring returning players, allocations and tryout standouts. The D-League also provided the full list of 200 players eligible for the draft.
The Erie BayHawks put out a press release with seven names that will take part in the their training camp, slated to open November 14. The list includes four returning members of the 2008-09 team and a couple of names that are sure to get local basketball fans buzzing.
Tonight's draft will help fill out out the training camp roster, but for now let me give some quick thoughts on the initial seven invites.
Kyle Goldcamp, C, Gannon (tryout)
Goldcamp was the best player on a Gannon team that went to the Division II Elite Eight last season, averaging 18.9 points and 9.3 points per game. I wrote about Goldcamp back in September when the news broke that he was playing pickup games with members of the Cleveland Cavaliers organization. He has the size; it'll be interesting to see if he has the strength and speed to keep up with the pro game. One thing's for sure: he'll have a lot of attention locally representing Gannon, who has a passionate hoops following in the area.
Jarvis Gunter, F, Arkansas Pine-Bluff (returning)
Friend of the blog and entrepreneur Jarvis Gunter is determined to have a breakthrough season after seeing limited action last year, his first as a pro. After a busy summer that included a month scrimmaging against the likes of LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, and company in Cleveland, Gunter says his confidence is sky high. Gunter also may benefit from the departure of D-League all-star Erik Daniels as Coach Treloar will be looking to fill that void in the frontcourt.
Ivan Harris, F, Ohio State (returning)
With apologies to Vinnie Johnson, Harris showed flashes of why he's called "The Microwave" last season, especially later in the year. He finished the year at 43 percent from distance, best on the team and I'd expect more of that from him this season. Also, in the absence of Erik Daniels, look for Harris to become a focal point of the offense.
Cedric Jackson, G, Cleveland State (allocation)
I've never seen Jackson in action, so I'll cede the floor to Tom Mieskoski, who runs a Cleveland State hoops blog:
The 6-3 Jackson averaged 10.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and led the nation with 112 steals last season.Joe Jones, G, Edinboro (tryout)
Jackson tried out for the Cavs a week before training camp and really impressed the assistant coaches, according to CSU head coach Gary Waters.
Like Goldcamp, Jones will be under the spotlight of the local media with the added pressure of being an Erie native who played high school basketball for Cathedral Prep. The biggest question for Jones, a top-flight scorer at the DII level, will be whether he can tailor his game to make an impact without necessarily being the number one or number two option on offense. He's very competitive and the improvement he made from year one to year four at Edinboro shows that he puts the work in to better his game, something he'll need to continue to do to catch on with the BayHawks and play at the professional level.
Oliver Lafayette, G, Houston (returning)
Injuries prevented Lafayette from reaching his full potential last year with the BayHawks. But when he was in the lineup, he gave them a scoring punch from the guard position and also took care of the ball pretty well. Hopefully good health will mean bigger and better things for Lafayette with the BayHawks this season.
Jackie Manuel, F, North Carolina (returning)
Last but not least is Jackie Manuel, the best perimeter defender on last year's BayHawks and probably most teams he plays on. Manuel is a coach's delight because he does all the things that coach's love to harp on—playing tenacious defense, diving for loose balls, taking charges—and he's unselfish on offense. If he can develop an outside shot, he could play a Bruce Bowen role for this team and possibly at the next level.
*Note*
The NBA Development League site and Ridiculous Upside both mention one additional allocated player for the BayHawks, Rob Kurz, who was waived by the Cavs in October and played his college ball at Notre Dame. The official press release from the BayHawks, however, did not include Kurz, so I'm not sure what the truth is. I'll try to clear up this discrepancy and let you all know the story as soon as I can confirm it one way or the other.
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