Wahoo Notebook: Salt Joins Jerome, Suns For Summer League
Posted on Tuesday, Jun. 25, 2019, 8:01 pm
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By Jerry Ratcliffe
Virginia center Jack Salt gets inside Wake Forest’s Olivier Sarr for a dunk attempt earlier this season.
Jack Salt will be taking his physical style of play to the NBA, at least for the summer season.
The 6-foot-10, 250-pound former Virginia center will play for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Summer League according to FoxSports Australia reporter Olgun Uluc, who cited a league source. Phoenix drafted Salt’s UVA teammate, Ty Jerome, as the No. 24 selection of the first round in last week’s NBA Draft, pending the approval of a trade.
Salt is one of a few New Zealanders that have made it to the league. A member of his country’s Tall Blacks international squad, he became only the second New Zealander to make the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four, joining Kirk Penney, who was a freshman on Dick Bennett’s 2000 Wisconsin squad that made it to the Big Dance.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett was a graduate assistant for his dad on that 2000 Wisconsin squad, providing all kinds of ties to the two Kiwis. Tony Bennett is a close friend to Penney to this day.
Salt was named to the All-ACC Academic Team with an undergraduate degree in anthropology, while pursuing a master’s degree in educational psychology. He was awarded the T. Rodney Crowley Jr. Memorial Scholarship, awarded to the UVA student that displayed leadership, sportsmanship, character and integrity.
The Cavaliers’ two-year captain averaged 3.7 points per game and 3.7 rebounds with a career-high in UVA’s ACC Tournament win over NC State in the quarterfinals.
The Suns’ Summer League games will be televised by ESPN, with the opener on July 5th vs. the Denver Nuggets, scheduled to air at 11:30 p.m. EST.
Meanwhile, another former Cavalier, point guard London Perrantes, will play with the New Orleans Pelicans’ Summer League squad, as reported by Emiliano Carchia from sportando.basketball. Perrantes spent the past season playing for Limoges CSP, a French professional basketball club.
UVA, JMU Agree to Series
Several sources have confirmed that national champion Virginia has agreed to a 2-for-1 series with James Madison beginning this coming season.
The first of the three games will be held in Charlottesville this year, with UVA traveling to Harrisonburg in 2020-2021 during the Dukes’ first year in their new arena, which is currently under construction. The third game in the series will be played at John Paul Jones Arena.
JMU finished last season with a 14-19 record.
Vlade Likes Guy
Former Virginia guard Kyle Guy, drafted in the second round by the Sacramento Kings, has definitely caught the eye of an important member of the organization.
Kings’ general manager Vlade Divac, a former NBA veteran, had this to say about Guy after reviewing film of UVA’s dramatic win over Auburn in the NCAA Final Four’s semifinals. Guy hit three clutch free throws to win the game.
“He [Guy] showed you at the end of that game he has a big heart and is a clutch player,” Divac said.
Wahoos Add 2 Football Commits
Virginia football has two more recruits in the fold in the wake of summer camps.
Joshua Rawlings, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound tight end out of Pittsburgh, chose the Cavaliers over Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Iowa State, Indiana, and Maryland. He is a 3-star prospect.
Meanwhile, UVA gained its 10th commitment Tuesday, adding Dave Herard, an “athlete” from Fort Lauderdale’s (Fla.) Stranahan school.
Herard is a 6-0, 170, three-star, who chose the Wahoos over Syracuse, Utah, Boston College, Kansas, and Indiana.
