Marshall University Athletics
Tyler Wilkerson To Compete With Athletes In Action This Summer
6/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 8, 2007
XENIA, Ohio --- Marshall sophomore Tyler Wilkerson (Lexington, Ky.) is one of ten players from eight NCAA Division I universities, along with a former pro and one National Christian College All-American, that will compete for Athletes In Action to represent the United States at the 2007 Jones Cup, held in Taipei, Taiwan beginning July 2. Athletes In Action (AIA) captured the 2006 Jones Cup championship, marking the 15th time that a team from the United States had won the tournament since its inception in 1977.
team will gather in Xenia, Ohio June 24 for a five-day training camp before heading to Taipei on June 29. In addition to playing nine games in a span of nine days, the team will perform numerous outreach activities including basketball clinics and visits to a local orphanage, thus supporting AIA's commitment to develop the total athlete.
Among those selected to the roster include a set of twin brothers from Miami of Ohio, Eric and Tim Pollitz (Ottawa, Ohio) and West Virginia teammates Darris Nichols (Radford, Va.) and Alex Ruoff (Spring Hill, Fla.). Others accepting invitations to participate include: Brian Asbury (Miami/Miami, Fla.); Zack Gibson (Michigan/Grand Blanc, Mich.), Cliff Hammonds (Clemson/Cairo, Ga.); Brad Harris (Lee/Winston-Salem, N.C.) Todd Hendley (UNC Wlimington/Sanford, N.C.); Donald Sloan (Texas A&M/Dallas, Texas); and Tyler Wilkerson (Marshall/Lexington, Ky.). Former Samford guard Reed Rawlings, who spent time with three NBA organizations, also accepted the invitation to participate.
Former George Washington University and St. John's (N.Y.) head coach Mike Jarvis is leading AIA's Jones Cup team again in 2007, after guiding AIA to the gold medal in 2006. University of Minnesota-Moorhead assistant coach Jason Beschta and former Bryan College head coach Morris Michalski will aid Jarvis.
Six of the 10 NCAA Division I players on the roster competed in either the NIT or NCAA Tournament this year, including Nichols and Ruoff whose West Virginia team defeated Hammonds' Clemson Tigers in the NIT championship game. Sloan helped Texas A&M reach its first "Sweet 16," since 1981, while the Pollitz twins led Miami of Ohio into the NCAA Tournament by winning the Mid-American Conference championship. Hendley was part of the NCAA Tournament teams at UNCW in 2005 and '06.
The 2007 Jones Cup, Asia's premier international tournament held annually, will be the 29th edition. Other countries competing in the tournament include: Taiwan, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan and Philippines. All of the aforementioned countries will be sending their senior men's national teams as they prepare for their Olympic qualifying tournament three weeks later.
Athletes In Action is the sports branch of Campus Crusade for Christ International. Dave Hannah, who desired to capitalize on society's great love of sports and utilize the platform given to athletes to reach the world for Jesus Christ, founded AIA in 1966. AIA's outreach range includes ministry to college and professional athletes and coaches globally across a great number of sports. International competing teams partner with in-country staff and other mission organizations to resource Christian ministry around the world.
