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Sunday, August 18, 1996

Team members go to camps looking to improve their skillsBy Rick Banks

Summer Bruin Contributor

Whoever said life was not fun and games probably never spent any time in Los Angeles. They definitely never spent an off-season with UCLA's men's basketball team.

This summer, several Bruins spent their time playing. Playing ball, that is. In an effort to gain some momentum going into the 1996-97 season, beginning in November, several key players competed in various tournaments, leagues and camps.

Toby Bailey is one of the finalists for U.S.A. Basketball's 22-under team that will be travelling to Puerto Rico to compete in a qualifying tournament for the Confederation of Pan American Basketball Association's men's 22-under world championships next summer.

Bailey joins such collegiate standouts as Wake Forest's Tim Duncan, Tulsa's Shea Seals and Stanford's Brevin Knight on a team coached by Mike Montgomery of the Cardinal.

The 12-member squad begins play on Aug. 22 against Panama and takes on Uruguay and Puerto Rico in preliminary competition to set up a round-robin finale. Only the top four teams will qualify for the championships in 1997.

Brandon Loyd returned on Sunday from a tour of Japan. He was competing on a team comprised of Pac-10 players and coaches. The team, coached by Washington State's Kevin Eastman, featured one player from every Pac-10 school, with the exception of California.

Bob Myers was set to be the UCLA representative on the team, but was replaced by Loyd after a bad back forced him out of the competition.

Over the past week, Jelani McCoy has been honing his skills in Hawaii. The sophomore participated in the renowned Pete Newell Big Man Camp. Newell's camp is designed to teach centers how to improve their footwork and show the players how to utilize their size to its maximum effectiveness.

As a way to improve their overall game, several collegiate and NBA stars attend the camp, which is held yearly in Honolulu. Among the other participants are UCLA alumnus and current Charlotte Hornet, George Zidek, as well as former Bruin, turned Long Beach State 49er, Ike Nwankwo.

Several other Bruins, including Cameron Dollar and Charles O'Bannon, participated in the Say No College Summer League at California State Los Angeles. In the championship game, O'Bannon scored 41 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, to lead Entertainment Tonight over Team Say No by a score of 112-107.

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A Pac-10 women's all-star team, including UCLA guard Tawana Grimes, also traveled to the Far East. They participated in a seven-day, four-game tour through Japan.

UCLA Sports Info

Toby BaileyUCLA Sports Info

Brandon Loyd