Devean George excels with Harlem Globetrotters in College All-Star Series

Augsburg's Devean George excels with Harlem Globetrotters in College All-Star Series

REMEMBER,SUNDAY'S GLOBETROTTER GAME WILL BE AIRED ON ESPN-2 TONIGHT (MONDAY 5/3) AT 6:30 P.M., WEDNESDAY (5/5) AT 10 P.M.!

Release on Devean's signing with Globetrotters for College All-Star Series

MINNEAPOLIS (5/3/99) -- Augsburg College men's basketball player Devean George (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret HS) put together three outstanding performances with the Harlem Globetrotters professional basketball team in a series of games against a team of major college basketball senior all-stars that concluded this weekend.

George, a 6-8 forward, averaged 16.3 points and five rebounds per game in the three contests, averaging 31 minutes of playing time each game. His commitment to the Globetrotters was only for the three games of the College All-Star Series.

On Saturday, George was named one of the Denny's Restaurant Players of the Game when he scored 23 points in the Globetrotters' 99-93, come-from-behind win before 6,322 fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich. George scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, as the Globetrotters rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to claim the victory. George also had six rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.

On Sunday, George had 15 points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and one steal in the Globetrotters' 106-97 win before 8,614 fans at the Firstar Center in Cincinnati. Sunday's game will be aired on a tape-delayed basis on the ESPN-2 cable network, today (Monday, May 3) at 6:30 p.m., on Wednesday, May 5 at 10 p.m., and Wednesday, May 19 at 12:30 p.m. The College All-Star Series is sponsored by Denny's Restaurants.

George started for the Globetrotters and scored 11 points in the first game of the College All-Star Series, a 108-87 victory by the Globetrotters in Oakland, Calif., on April 25. He also had five rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot.

George was scouted for the Globetrotter squad by team scout Chad Groth, who grew up in the same neighborhood of north Minneapolis as George. Mannie Jackson, owner and chairman of the Globetrotters, also has ties to the Twin Cities; before purchasing the Globetrotters in 1993, Jackson spent 26 years in Minneapolis at Honeywell, Inc., where he served as corporate officer and senior vice president.

Competitive games against the top college basketball players are nothing new for the Harlem Globetrotters. The original series against the College All-Stars began in 1950 and continued into the 1960s before being resurrected again in 1997. Overall, the Harlem Globetrotters own a 20,071-332 lifetime record in their 73 years of entertaining fans around the world. Of the 332 losses, 65 have been at the hands of the College All-Stars. The Globetrotters have won 983 games in a row.

George, a rare NCAA Division III player being considered for a possible pro career, was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Portsmouth, Va., Invitational, the first of three development camps for NBA prospects, earlier this month. The final camp, in Chicago, will be held June 8-11. The NBA Draft will be held June 30 in Washington, D.C.

George is trying to become the first Division III player drafted by an NBA team since 1991, when Lamont Strothers of Christopher Newport (Va.) was drafted by Golden State. George would be the second Augsburg player ever drafted by an NBA team. Greg Boone, who played for the Auggies from 1979-81, was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers as a late-round pick in 1981, but never played in the NBA.

George was considered one of the top players in Division III basketball this season, averaging 27.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game - one of only two players in Division III to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. He ended his career with 2,258 points scored and 868 career rebounds, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the second straight year this season. The Auggies finished 24-4 this season, winning the MIAC regular-season title and advancing to the Division III national playoffs, each for the second year in a row.