Big Ten Conference Announces 2006 Men’s Basketball Foreign Tour Roster – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
July 23, 2006
Park Ridge, Ill. – The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Foreign Tour Team roster was announced today by conference officials, as Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker put together a squad comprised of 11 student-athletes from 10 different league schools. The Tour, which runs from August 8-18, is tentatively scheduled to include four games in Australia.
The 2006 Foreign Tour Team will include a pair of Amaker’s own players in guards Lester Abram and Jerret Smith. Last season, Abram ranked fourth among the Wolverines in scoring (10.0 ppg), while also averaging 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals per contest. Smith saw action in 27 games and earned his first career start against Purdue during his freshman campaign.
In addition, the Tour squad will have four other guards in Indiana’s Roderick Wilmont, Michigan State’s Travis Walton, Ohio State’s Ron Lewis and Penn State’s Michael Walker. The Hoosiers’ Wilmont averaged 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest during his junior season, while Walton saw action in all 34 games in his first season as a Spartan. Lewis is the leading returning scorer for the Buckeyes after averaging 11.2 points per contest and helping Ohio State to the 2006 Big Ten title. Walker tallied 6.7 points per game in 30 games of action for the Nittany Lions, while also picking up Academic All-Conference honors as a sophomore last season.
The Foreign Tour Team includes one student-athlete who will play the forward position in Illinois’ Marcus Arnold, while Northwestern’s Tim Doyle and Purdue’s Gordon Watt can play both forward and guard. Arnold averaged 11.1 minutes per game for the Fighting Illini in 32 games last season. Doyle registered an 8.0 scoring average, while leading the team in assists (3.79 apg). Watt redshirted last year at Purdue after transferring from Boston College, where he played in six games, averaging 1.3 points per contest.
Amaker will also have two centers to choose from in Iowa’s Seth Gorney and Minnesota’s Jonathan Williams. Gorney saw action in 22 games as a sophomore last season, while Williams competed in 25 games last season with two starts for the Golden Gophers.
The complete 2006 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Foreign Tour Team roster follows.
2006 BIG TEN MEN’S BASKETBALL FOREIGN TOUR ROSTER
| School | Player | Pos. | Yr. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/High School |
| ILL | Marcus Arnold | F | SR | 6-8 | 245 | Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park |
| IND | Roderick Wilmont | G | SR | 6-4 | 200 | Miramar, Fla./Miramar |
| IOWA | Seth Gorney | C | JR | 7-0 | 250 | Vandalia, Ohio/Butler |
| MICH | Lester Abram | G | SR | 6-6 | 200 | Pontiac, Mich./Pontiac Northern |
| MICH | Jerret Smith | G | SO | 6-3 | 195 | Romulus, Mich./Romulus |
| MSU | Travis Walton | G | SO | 6-2 | 190 | Lima, Ohio/Lima Senior |
| MINN | Jonathan Williams | C | SO | 6-9 | 265 | St. Cloud, Minn./Notre Dame Prep |
| NU | Tim Doyle | G/F | SR | 6-5 | 215 | Merrick, N.Y./St. Dominic |
| OSU | Ron Lewis | G | SR | 6-4 | 195 | Columbus, Ohio/Brookhaven |
| PSU | Michael Walker | G | JR | 6-2 | 180 | Lewisberry, Pa./Trinity |
| PUR | Gordon Watt | G/F | SO | 6-6 | 223 | Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township |
