Quincy Pondexter tied for the team lead in scoring with 14 points as the USA blasted South Korea 113-76 today in World University Games play.

Here's the release with details.

USA, now 2-0, will next play Greece on Monday.

There are a few quotes from Pondexter here, including a picture featuring what appears to be a bit more facial hair than he has displayed in the past.

And here are the stats to date for the USA showing Pondexter averaging 10 points and hitting 8-14 shots while also averaging five rebounds in two games.

Quincy Pondexter scored six points today as Team USA won its first game in World University Games play, beating Finland 87-40.

Here's the box score, showing Pondexter also had four rebounds and hit 2-7 shots in 18 minutes of action in a game that was never really close.

Pondexter and Team USA will next be in action tomorrow at 11 a.m. Seattle time against South Korea.

Former Husky Bobby Jones will play for Portland's summer league entry, the team has announced.

Portland is in the Las Vegas Summer League, which runs July 10-19.

Jones, who has been in Seattle recently, spent all of last season in the NBA D-League after being with five teams in the 07-08 season, setting an NBA record.

Jon Brockman and Spencer Hawes will play for Sacramento in the same league, but as the Kings' schedule shows, they won't play the Blazers.

Portland, however, will play Houston, whose roster includes another former Husky, Will Conroy. Houston's summer team is coached by Elston Turner, father of the current Husky of the same name, and assisted by former Sonic Jack Sikma.

Here's what I wrote last week on Conroy's signing with Houston for the summer.

Houston's summer roster has a lot of Pac-10 flavor also including Hassan Adams, Chase Budinger and Maarty Leunen.

Right now, those are the only UW players I see on summer league rosters.

As also noted on the football blog, I'm trying to get some vacation time in this week, so there may be limited activity on here for a little while. For now, however, a few things to pass along. ...

--- As some of you have already linked, ESPN's Jim Caple has a nice piece on Cameron Dollar this week. I've heard Lorenzo Romar say that before that Dollar had so much responsibility at UW you might think he was the head coach. Reading it again, however, makes you wonder anew how his loss may impact UW going forward. Changing any piece of the puzzle always alters the chemistry of the whole thing a bit.

--- This is a few days old, but Jeff Faraudo of InsideBayArea.com ---- and one of the more veteran and respected Pac-10 scribes around --- has this take on the conference heading into next season, picking UW to win it all again.

--- Jon Wilner, meanwhile, writes about the apparent lack of major NBA prospects on Pac-10 rosters next season. I think his assessment of UW's Quincy Pondexter more than fair --- that he's obviously got all kinds of potential but can't realistically be predicted as anything close to a first-round lock right now. Articles such as this reinforce the notion that the Pac-10 could be just a three-bid conference next season, as well.

--- Lastly, lots of rumors out there that Kentwood's Josh Smith is getting close to making an announcement and that when he does, he's likely to be UCLA-bound. I've heard the same, though I'm usually hesitant to pass along off-the-record recruiting rumors, doing so here because so many of you seem to already be discussing it I thought I'd acknowledge it. But one person told me UCLA is simply where Smith has always wanted to go, something that can be hard to counter. So don't be surprised if an announcement of that sort comes soon.

All for now.

UW's Quincy Pondexter may be again in action in the as I type this, as Team USA is set to play this afternoon against Russia in what is kind of an ehibition for the World University Games, technically called the Sernia International Invitational.

The USA team will begin actual play in the World University Games on July 3 against Finland.

The U.S. is 1-1 so far in the SII, losing yesterday to host Serbia 98-82. Pondexter had six points, two rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes off the bench.

He had seven points in the first game for Team USA.

UPDATE --- Pondexter scored three points in USA's win against Russia and he averaged 5.3 points in the three exhibition games. USA won today 67-63.

ARIZONA GETS FORMER USC RECRUIT --- Also, news today that former USC signee Derrick Williams will instead attend Arizona.

Arizona also earlier got four-star forward Solomon Hill on the rebound from the Trojans. And since April, new coach Sean Miller has compiled a five-man recruiting class of three- and four-star players that seems to ensure the Wildcats will stay near the top of the conference for a while.

The U.S. beat Canada in an exhibition at the World University Games Saturday with UW's Quincy Pondexter scoring seven points in 15 minutes including a dunk in the final seconds that clinched the victory..

The final score was 85-81 in what was the first game for the U.S. team.

You can find out more details here. And here's the box score, showing that Pondexter also grabbed three rebounds.

Jon Brockman is in Sacramento this weekend doing all the new-draftee kind of things such as holding press conferences and posing for promotional pictures.

You can find all kinds of stuff on the Sacramento Kings website, which promotes the team's three draftees as "The New Kings on the Block.''

Here you can see a picture of Brockman holding up his new Kings jersey, No. 40.

You can find all the Kings' draft info here and quotes from the press conference here.

And here's a video of an interview with Brockman in Sacramento.

Just back from the spaghetti feed fundraiser for former Husky Andrew Moritz, hosted by Spencer Hawes, where the big news is that Will Conroy said he has signed a deal to play for Houston's summer league team with a chance to make the roster this fall.

Conroy was one of about a dozen Seattle basketball luminaries in attedance at the fundraiser for Moritz, a former UW walk-on who is battling cancer. Among others there were Brandon Roy, Jamal Crawford, Lorenzo Romar, Nick Collison, Grant Leep and Todd MacCulloch. (Jon Brockman would have been there but he flew to Sacramento today).

Conroy used the occasion to let everyone know he has signed with the Rockets and will play for their summer team in Las Vegas.

"They tell me I've got a good chance to make the team,'' he said. "One of their scouts said they've been watching me for a couple of years and he said it's my time to turn the corner.''

Conroy said he could be competing to be a backup for Aaron Brooks, another former Seattle-area high school star (Franklin, in his case) who later attended Oregon and is now with the Rockets.

"They want me to come in and back him up,'' he said. "Obviously you want to come in and play hard and carve out minutes for youself but they want me to come in and be mature and show how to be professional and things like that.''

However, there are also rumors that Brooks may be involved in a trade with the Suns that could bring Amare Stoudemire to Houston which would also change the look of Houston's backcourt.

Conroy spent last season with Albuquerque in the NBA D-League, averaging 26.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and eight assists a game, which included a career-high 53 points in one game.

"I got a chance to be a marquee guy on the team and I haven't had that since I've been playing ball,'' he said. "The coach put the ball in my hands and said 'go make things happen' and I had a chance to shoot the ball more than I've ever had and make layups and free throws.''

The numbers raise the obvious question of why he was never called up.

Conroy said he thought he was on the verge of it a few times, saying he heard several rumblings about Orlando.

"There was talk, but it just never happened,'' he said.

But now he's looking forward to another chance, getting ready to leave for Houston in a few days.

I also had a chance to talk with Moritz, who reported he is optimistic and doing well. I'll have more on that in a future entry.

Also had a chance to speak briefly with Roy, who said he's excited about the Oct. 14 exhibition game at KeyArena against the Suns. He said he'll make sure he plays in that one, saying he thought it might be 10 years before he had a chance to play another game in Seattle.