Big 12 All-Stars Continue Training for Scandanavian Tour
8/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 4, 2002
DALLAS, Texas - In the second day of preparation for its 2002 European tour the Big 12 Men's Basketball All-Star team practiced Saturday at the American Airlines Center, focusing on learning to play with the international 24-second shot clock.
Baylor head coach Dave Bliss, who is guiding the All-Stars on the two-week tour, put the squad through two practices Saturday at the Dallas Mavericks practice courts at the AAC. The team tipped off its training with an evening practice Friday.
"We're taking 12 players from diverse programs and it's presumptuous to think that in five practices you can get them on the same page," Bliss said. "But these guys have done a great job of trying to acclimate to the 24-second shot clock which is a tremendous change from college basketball. No doubt the advantage will be with our opposition because they are used to playing at a quicker pace, but I think we are adjusting very well and it will be interesting to see how it works out."
The All-Stars will conclude training with two practices Sunday before departing for Scandinavia Monday. The team is scheduled to play six games during an 11-day tour of Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The Big 12 All-Stars is a 12-man team consisting of one player from each member school. The team includes Nick Anderson (Texas A&M), Travon Bryant (Missouri), Will Chavis (Texas Tech), Jason Klotz (Texas), Ivan McFarlin (Oklahoma State), Jake Muhleisen (Nebraska), Bryant Nash (Kansas), Pervis Pasco (Kansas State), Lawrence Roberts (Baylor), Jake Sullivan (Iowa State), Quannas White (Oklahoma) and Blair Wilson (Colorado).
This is the sixth annual Big 12 All-Star team, and the third men's squad. Former Texas Tech head coach James Dickey guided the first men's Big 12 All-Stars to a 4-2 record in August 1998 while touring London, Paris, Belgium, and Germany. In 2000, Colorado head coach Ricardo Patton guided the second men's all-star squad to a 5-1 record while touring Austria and Germany. Women's Big 12 All-Star teams toured in 1999 and 2001.
