Post by elp525 on Jul 10, 2009 5:11:47 GMT -5
July 10, 2009
By Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sports writer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - In a string of events that may make sense only in the world of professional basketball, former West Virginia shooting guard Alex Ruoff is in Las Vegas today to begin a four-day minicamp as part of the Washington Wizards' NBA Summer League roster.
The games begin Tuesday.
Yet, the Mountaineers' all-time leading 3-point shooter signed a contract last Monday to play in Belgium's Division I league, for Belgacom Liege.
"The contract I signed came with an escape clause, which means that by the end of the month if there's interest from an NBA team in having me come to training camp or if I'm on a team, I'm free to go," Ruoff said Wednesday as he packed his final belongings in a storage shelter in Morgantown.
"I'm still in the same boat. I still need to play well and hopefully pique some interest to get invited to training camp, but this is a fall-back plan, almost like a security blanket for me."
Should Ruoff make the Wizards' roster or, more likely, receive an invitation to a training camp with them or someone else in the NBA, he can exit his Liege contract without penalty.
If nothing comes of his summer league experience, he belongs to a European team that went 15-17 and finished fifth in its league, but averaged about 20 3-point shots per game along the way.
Ruoff made a school-record 261 threes in his career at WVU and finished with 1,420 points (11.2 per game), 410 assists, 382 rebounds and 189 steals.
"I had four or five offers, but my agent (Doug Neustadt, who also represents former WVU teammate and Milwaukee Bucks' forward Joe Alexander) has been really good and he said this is a great league as far as exposure goes," Ruoff said.
"For my first year, that's exactly what I want. Their offer was good and the salary was good. Plus, it's not like college where they keep an offer on the table. They want the answer right away."
Ruoff's salary is tax-free. Liege pays for his apartment and automobile and provides plane tickets for friends and family to visit him in the eastern part of the country. The French-speaking town is Belgium's administrative hub and is near the borders with Germany and the Netherlands.
"You basically get to keep your money in your pocket," Ruoff said. "That's not bad at all."
Ruoff hasn't given up on the NBA, however. He picked the Wizards on draft night after the team called him during the second round to extend an invitation. Washington traded its first-round pick before the draft and then sold its second-round pick to the Houston Rockets.
"I had some other offers, but I had went with the Wizards because in summer league the biggest thing is playing time," he said. "Say, I go with Chicago and they had three draft picks. Those draft picks are going to play. The Wizards have a different situation."
In addition, Washington's latest summer league roster has only two players with guaranteed salaries for the coming season.
"There's an opportunity to play and to make an impression," Ruoff said.
By Mike Casazza
Daily Mail sports writer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - In a string of events that may make sense only in the world of professional basketball, former West Virginia shooting guard Alex Ruoff is in Las Vegas today to begin a four-day minicamp as part of the Washington Wizards' NBA Summer League roster.
The games begin Tuesday.
Yet, the Mountaineers' all-time leading 3-point shooter signed a contract last Monday to play in Belgium's Division I league, for Belgacom Liege.
"The contract I signed came with an escape clause, which means that by the end of the month if there's interest from an NBA team in having me come to training camp or if I'm on a team, I'm free to go," Ruoff said Wednesday as he packed his final belongings in a storage shelter in Morgantown.
"I'm still in the same boat. I still need to play well and hopefully pique some interest to get invited to training camp, but this is a fall-back plan, almost like a security blanket for me."
Should Ruoff make the Wizards' roster or, more likely, receive an invitation to a training camp with them or someone else in the NBA, he can exit his Liege contract without penalty.
If nothing comes of his summer league experience, he belongs to a European team that went 15-17 and finished fifth in its league, but averaged about 20 3-point shots per game along the way.
Ruoff made a school-record 261 threes in his career at WVU and finished with 1,420 points (11.2 per game), 410 assists, 382 rebounds and 189 steals.
"I had four or five offers, but my agent (Doug Neustadt, who also represents former WVU teammate and Milwaukee Bucks' forward Joe Alexander) has been really good and he said this is a great league as far as exposure goes," Ruoff said.
"For my first year, that's exactly what I want. Their offer was good and the salary was good. Plus, it's not like college where they keep an offer on the table. They want the answer right away."
Ruoff's salary is tax-free. Liege pays for his apartment and automobile and provides plane tickets for friends and family to visit him in the eastern part of the country. The French-speaking town is Belgium's administrative hub and is near the borders with Germany and the Netherlands.
"You basically get to keep your money in your pocket," Ruoff said. "That's not bad at all."
Ruoff hasn't given up on the NBA, however. He picked the Wizards on draft night after the team called him during the second round to extend an invitation. Washington traded its first-round pick before the draft and then sold its second-round pick to the Houston Rockets.
"I had some other offers, but I had went with the Wizards because in summer league the biggest thing is playing time," he said. "Say, I go with Chicago and they had three draft picks. Those draft picks are going to play. The Wizards have a different situation."
In addition, Washington's latest summer league roster has only two players with guaranteed salaries for the coming season.
"There's an opportunity to play and to make an impression," Ruoff said.
