Wander into the Larry O. Finch Center this week and one can easily hear the tell-tale sounds of an average basketball pick-up game — the squeaking of shoes on the court, the rhythmic pounding of the ball and a whole lot of trash talking in the background.
But this isn’t your average summertime pick-up game. This game consists of several Tiger basketball players, past and present, including Earl Barron, Shannon Forman, Modibo Diarra and Scooter McFadgon. Sprinkled among them are a few current and former NBA players from The U of M like Cedric Henderson, Chris Garner and Elliot Perry.
Since basketball practice doesn’t officially begin until October, U of M players often gather for summer sessions of pick-up games to fine-tune their skills.
Chris Massie and Duane Erwin, two of the four new recruits joining the U of M basketball team this season, are also a part of the informal scrimmages. Massie, a 6-8, 262 pound forward, had no problem muscling his way through defenders Tuesday.
“He’s (Massie) what we’ve been lacking,” said U of M point guard Courtney Trask, who was limited to being an observer Tuesday due to a shoulder separation that occurred last week. “He can do it all.”
At 6-9, Erwin has a smaller frame than Massie, but can still throw his weight around. “He (Erwin) has got great skills,” said Trask. “He just needs to get into the weight room and get strong.”
Dejuan Wagner and Anthony Rice complete the group of signees for Memphis—a group some analysts are pegging as the top recruiting class in college basketball this year.
“With the addition of some new players along with the guys that are coming back, we can attain some goals that we have,” said assistant coach Derek Kellogg. “We can challenge for the (C-USA) title every year.”
