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July 27, 2012

PULLMAN, Wash. - Former Washington State University men's basketball student-athletes Aron Baynes, Klay Thompson and Kyle Weaver have been busy the past couple of months on the basketball court.

Baynes is preparing for the 2012 London Olympics which kick off today, Friday, July 27, as a member of the Boomers, Australia's national men's basketball team. The Boomers open the Games Sunday, July 29 at 3:15 a.m. PT against Brazil. Baynes and his squad are familiar with Brazil, as they faced each other recently in one game of a four-game warm-up for the Olympics. The Boomers also faced Spain twice and France once, compiling a 1-3 record in those games.

In the first game against Spain, July 18, Baynes scored four points and grabbed five rebounds in 17:25, as his team fell 75-69 in Granada, Spain. In the rematch July 19 in Malaga, Spain, Baynes' numbers improved to nine points and seven rebounds in 21:40 as the Boomers lost 81-75.

The Australian team moved over to Strasbourg, France, where it fell short against Brazil, 87-71, July 23. Baynes was 5-for-7 from the field in that game for 11 points and four rebounds in 18:08. In the final tune-up before the Olympics, Baynes put up a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards as the Boomers defeated France, 67-66, July 24. In the four games, Baynes averaged 8.8 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Baynes was a member of the Cougar basketball team from 2006-09 and a two-year starter. He finished second on the team in scoring in 2008-09 (12.7 points per game) and tied for third in 2007-08 (10.4 ppg). He became the 30th player in WSU history to exceed 1,000 points for his career, finishing with 1,064. A native of Cairns, Australia, the 6-foot-11 center also became the 11th Cougar to surpass 600 rebounds as he finished with 653.

Thompson had a taste of Olympic basketball as a member of the 2012 USA Men's Select Team as he and 12 other NBA players trained against the USA Men's National Team from July 6-12 in Las Vegas. With not much of a break, Thompson then competed with his Golden State Warriors in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, July 13-22. Thompson played two games, scoring 24 points on 6-for-8 shooting from beyond 3-point and grabbing 6 rebounds in a 90-50 victory over the Lakers, July 13. In his other game, he scored 17 points and also grabbed 6 rebounds, while dishing out 4 assists as the team defeated Denver, 95-74, July 14.

Weaver, who has played in the NBA for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz, in the NBA D-League and in Europe, competed in the NBA Summer League in Orlando, July 9-13 with the Jazz and in the Las Vegas Summer League with the Miami Heat. Weaver played four of the Jazz's five games, starting one. He averaged 1.8 points and 1.8 rebounds, dishing out three assists. His only start came in a win over the Magic as he scored four points and grabbed 3 rebounds.

With the Heat in Las Vegas, Weaver averaged 3.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game as the team went 3-2. Weaver had his best game of 5 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists in the Summer League finale, an 81-55 loss to Portland, July 21.

The 38th overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats, Weaver became the 29th Cougar to score 1,000 points when he went 8-for-8 from the field with 17 points against USC Feb. 9, 2008, finishing his career with 1,162 points which ranks 18th in WSU's career record books. He is believed to be the first student-athlete in Pac-10 history to have at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 450 assists, 175 steals and 75 blocked shot in a career. Weaver recorded the first triple double in WSU history with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against Stanford Jan. 13, 2007.