Sunday, September 12, 2010

Pure Youth added two imports to play in APB

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Pure Youth Construction has hired two imports to play in the Asian Professional Basketball tournament, a brainchild of former FIBA president Carl Men Ky Ching which will be played in Haining, Zhejiang, China from Sept. 14 - 19.

Pure Youth has signed 6-6 Tyler Amaya and 6-9 Zack Atkinson to two weeks for the six-team tournament which will allow two imports per team, Liberty Times and United Daily News reported.

The participating teams include:
1. Pure Youth Construction, Taiwan: Ranked 3rd in the 7-team SBL
2. Seoul Samsung Thunders, South Korea: Ranked 6th in the 10-team KBL
3. Hamamatsu Phoenix, Japan: Reigning bj-league champion
4. Zhejiang Guangsha Lions, China: Ranked 3rd in the 17-team CBA
5. Iran All-Stars
6. Philippines All-Stars

(I couldn't find the details of the Iranian and the Philippine teams.)

PY head coach Hsu Chin-tse was quoted as saying that 6-6 U.S. forward Jon Sanders, the team's leading scorer and rebounder last season, will not be returning to Taiwanese basketball. Hsu said he will evaluate Atkinson and Amaya in the APB tourney before deciding on whether to keep them.

However, only one import is allow on each SBL team and Atkinson is ineligible to play in the league because his height exceeds the SBL's 200cm height limit on imports.

Tyler Amaya
amaya_profile[4]

Born: Aug. 9, 1982
Height: 6-6
College: Western Washington
Mount Vernon HS, Mount Vernon (Wa.)

2002-2003: Gonzaga (NCAA): 25 games: 0.7ppg, 0.8rpg, FGP: 26.3%, 3PT: 15.4%, FT: 6-6
2003-2004: Dixie JC (NJCAA): 10.0ppg, 7.0rpg
2004-2005: Western Washington (NCAA2): 29 games: 12.0ppg, 7.9rpg, 3.1apg, 1.0spg, 1.0bpg, FGP: 46.7%, 3PT: 28.6%, FT: 68.3%
2005-2006: Western Washington (NCAA2): 30 games: 14.8ppg, 8.0rpg, 3.5apg, FGP: 50.0%, 3PT: 42.6%, FT: 77.6%
Pro career: Played in IBL, Germany, China and New Zealand from 2006-2010


Zack Atkinson
2512697UCI basketball player Zack Atkinson slam-dunks the ball in a game against Hawaii at the Bren Events Center.

Height: 6-9'
College: Cal-Irvine (USA)

Bishopville, S.C./Feather River College
2008-2009: Cal-Irvine (NCAA, starting five): 29 games: 2.5ppg, 2.8rpg
2009-2010: Cal-Irvine (NCAA, starting five): 30 games: 5.6ppg, 3.6rpg, 1.3bpg, FGP: 52.5%, FT: 59.5%

(Photos: Liberty Times, UCI website, IBL website)