http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/547197.html?nav=5017In the early hours Friday morning, Guy Rancourt had his basketball team out practicing in Lamade Gym at Lycoming College.
The Warriors season opener is still months off, but it wasn't just a team of Lycoming players that were practicing. Rancourt had assembled some talent from various NCAA schools including Arkansas, Notre Dame, Kansas State, Purdue, St. John's and Harvard to participate in the 2010 East Coast All Stars.
The 10 basketball players, including Lycoming's own Will Kelly, Sebastian Sabella and Ethan Lee, boarded a plane on Friday night en route to Geneva, Switzerland to play some very talented European teams. This isn't the first time Rancourt's assembled talent to participate in the East Coast All-Stars.
Rancourt's brought his teams all over Europe, including Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, the Czech. Republic, Slovakia and Austria in years past. While it is for basketball games, the trip also gives the players a chance to experience a new culture.
"We always want to try to get guys different experiences," Rancourt said. "Mike (Bradley) and James (Oberlies) came back and shared their experience and this year, we want them to go to a couple different countries."
Rancourt's 10 players will go up against professional basketball teams in two different countries. The All-Stars will start by playing two games against the Swiss National Team. They then will travel to Paris, France to play the Tunisian National Team and two professional French teams.
The talent on the East Coast All-Stars is more than up for the challenge of competing with some great talent from Europe.
"It's actually a good mix," Rancourt said. "Jamar Samuels was the Big 12 6th Man of the Year and they went to the Elite Eight and lost to Butler, so you have some guys that actually are legitimate players that had great seasons."
Samuels, recipient of the Big 12 and Yahoo! Sports' 6th Man of the Year Award, helped lead Kansas State deep into the 2010 March Madness tournament. The 6-foot-7 junior forward led Kansas State in scoring three times in his freshman season.
St. John's Paris Horne is another player that should bolster the team overall. Horne was a first team All-Met selection in 2010. Last season, Horne started in 32 of St. John's 33 games and averaged 16.1 points per game in Big East play.While it may seem strange how players from all these different schools got together here in Williamsport, Rancourt saw their talent and wanted to give them some great playing time opportunities.
Jeff Peterson, a guard from Arkansas, is coming off a hamstring injury. Peterson spent two years at Iowa and led the Hawkeyes in assists, was second in steals and averaged 10.4 points per game.
Kelly hopes to provide plenty of experience and talent for the East Coast All-Stars. He started in 52 straight Lycoming games while averaging 15.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game last season as Lycoming got back to the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm definitely looking forward to it. Great experience," Kelly said. "Coach (Rancourt) just told us how talented these teams are and we're excited with the talent we have to play some good competition."
Lee is another Lycoming senior that will provide experience for the All-Stars. The 6-foot-2 guard was one of Lycoming's best shooters, shooting a team high 58 percent from the field and sinking a team high 62 percent of his three point attempts last season.
Sabella, Lycoming's 6-foot-5 guard, gives the All-Stars even more talent. Sabella has showcased his speed before, scoring 17 points in just 11 minutes last December and later scored nine points in 11 minutes in a semi-final playoff win in February.
The East Coast All-Stars remaining roster includes Harvard's Keith Wright, Purdue's Lewis Jackson, Notre Dame's Scott Martin and Kansas State's Nick Russell. The East Coast All-Stars first game will be today against the Switzerland National team.