Sophomore Raymond Helps U.S. Select Team in Greece

June 29, 1999

NORMAN, Okla. - J.R. Raymond, a sophomore guard on next year's University of Oklahoma men's basketball team, helped One World Select, a team of United States collegians, to a first-place finish in the four-game Nea Moudania Tournament June 17-20 in Halkidiki, Greece. The 6-2, 180-pound Gastonia, N.C., native averaged 5.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting .500 from three-point land (4-for-8) for the 3-1 U.S. squad.

Raymond's squad, coached by Texas assistant Rob Lanier, opened the tournament with a 72-67 loss to Israel's under-20 national team before rebounding with a 93-65 victory over Croatia's under-20 team. The U.S. won its third-round contest against AJAX, a local professional Greek squad, 91-69, and then avenged its loss to Israel with an 80-62 championship game triumph.

"He's a gamer," said Lanier said of Raymond. "I was really impressed with his defensive tenacity and his toughness. His stats really don't indicate how well he played. He's a super, super kid who has a great attitude. On the court, he really played his heart out. When he wasn't on the court, he was really pulling for the other guys. I appreciate that."

Connecticut's Albert Mouring led the victorious U.S. team in scoring with 18.8 points per game while Husky teammate Edmund Saunders paced the squad with his 6.5 boards per outing. Fellow Big 12 players Gabe Muoneke (Texas) and Doug Gottlieb (Oklahoma State), who will both be seniors next season, averaged 8.8 and 2.5 points per game, respectively. Muoneke also averaged 4.3 rebounds per contest while Gottlieb averaged a team-high 5.0 assists.

Raymond was a freshman last season who could not compete in games due to his "partial qualifier" academic status. He practiced with the team until January when he had arthroscopy performed on his left ankle.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sophomore Raymond Helps U.S. Select Team in Greece

Related News

Related Videos

Sponsors