Kyle Goldcamp/AP Photo

The Cleveland Cavaliers have waived Erie BayHawks forward Kyle Goldcamp, who starred at Gannon University, and Canton Charge forward Tyrell Biggs, who played college basketball at Pitt.

The Cavaliers announced it today.

The Cavaliers now have 17 players in training camp with one being BayHawks forward Mychel Thompson. NBA teams can have 15 total players with 13 being on the roster. It used to be 12 players.

Goldcamp joined the Cavaliers on the first day of training camp after being invited by the team’s director of player personnel, Wes Wilcox, who is also the general manager of the expansion Charge.

He was invited six hours before Erie played Canton.

The BayHawks lost that game, 101-98.

The 6-foot, 10-inch, 250-pound Goldcamp missed five games while with the Cavaliers. Erie went 2-3 in those games.

Goldcamp must clear NBA waivers so he won’t play in today’s game at Maine, but should be back for Friday’s game against Tulsa at Tullio Arena. That will give Erie 10 players.

Cory Higgins

Check out Erie BayHawks combo guard Cory Higgins dancing along with three other rookies at the Denver Nuggets scrimmage tonight.

No. 22. Kind of in the background wearing an underneath shirt.

Higgins was one of five BayHawks who was invited to NBA training camps with the other four being Donald Sloan (Atlanta Hawks), Chris Daniels (Los Angeles Lakers), Mychel Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Kyle Goldcamp (Cleveland).

Thompson played in Cleveland’s preseason win at Detroit on Friday night. He scored three points on 1-of-7 shooting. Goldcamp didn’t play, but his parents made the trek from Pittsburgh to see him play.

Goldcamp is in his third season with the BayHawks after starring at Gannon.

Sloan saw action in a public scrimmage and had five points and three assists. Played solid.

Got some highlights people.

Here’s a look at Erie’s 101-98 loss to the expansion Canton Charge on Friday night.

The irony of this game is that Charge general manager Wes Wilcox, who is the director of player personnel for the Cleveland Cavaliers, invited BayHawks forward Kyle Goldcamp to Cleveland’s training camp six hours before the start of Erie’s 7 p.m. game against Canton at Tullio Arena.

Kyle Goldcamp

Stop playing.

That’s what Erie BayHawks power forward Kyle Goldcamp initially thought when getting a call from Wes Wilcox around 1 p.m. Friday about coming to the Cleveland Cavaliers training camp.

“I know Wes from being affiliated with Cleveland,” Goldcamp said about the Cavaliers, who were an NBA affiliate of the BayHawks for their first three seasons in the D-League. Wilcox, who is the general manager of the expansion Canton Charge, is also the director of player personnel for the Cavaliers.

The BayHawks are now hybrid partners with the New York Knicks

“At first, I didn’t know why he was calling me. Then when he asked me to come to camp, I thought he was joking with me to be honest. “He was dead serious. I said, ‘Absolutely. I’ll come to camp.’ ”

Goldcamp got the call after Erie had its morning shootaround Friday before ironically playing the Charge later that night. By the time the former Gannon standout got to Cleveland and took his physical, the Cavaliers had already finished their first day of camp.

So Goldcamp will get his first shot with the Cavs today.

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Greg Washington ended his senior year at Hofstra in 2010-11 with a school-record 275 career shot blocks./AP Photo.

When the Rio Grande Valley Vipers made Greg Washington their final cut in training camp, he didn’t wear that as a badge of honor.

“At that point, I was at my lowest,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect next. Speaking with my agent, he said he was going to do his best to find me another team.”

Enter the Erie BayHawks.

Erie picked Washington out of the D-League player pool and he had his first practice with the BayHawks earlier today.

“Thank God I was still packed,” Washinton said. “My mindset was still as positive as anybody’s. I’m blessed to be here. I’m ready to work.”

The BayHawks are trying to get the rail thin 6-10 center ready for Friday’s game against expansion Canton at Tullio Arena. Washington has the school record for shot blocks at Hofstra with 275.

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Chris Daniels/Photo by Rob Engelhardt/Erie Times-News

The Erie BayHawks closed out Saturday’s three-team exhibition with a convincing 57-42 win against expansion Canton at Penn State Behrend.

Center Chris Daniels had 19 points while forward Tirrell Baines added 16 as the BayHawks shot 62.2 percent from the field.

Erie won its earlier game, 43-39, against Fort Wayne, which beat Canton in the opening game, 49-41. The three games were only two quarters long. Forward D.J. Kennedy (knee) and point guard Al Nolen (foot) didn’t play for Erie.

Look for the Bayhawks to make some cuts in the next day or so. The BayHawks have until 5 p.m. on Nov. 23 to reach the 10-man roster limit. Before looking at the BayHawks, here’s a quick observation of Fort Wayne and Canton.

Fort Wayne is experienced. Has key returnees in Ron Howard and Walker Russell. Got some solid pick ups in former Michigan State forward Antonio Smith and Marvin Phillips, who was a key contributor for the Iowa Energy.

However, the biggest force the Mad Ants have – Chris Hunter – was in street clothes. The big fella was nearly unstoppable in the D-League. With him, Fort Wayne could be be scary.

Canton – The Charge didn’t finish their second scrimmage with Erie well. Got pretty good talent, but they’re young and didn’t play like a cohesive unit down the stretch against Erie.

Now to the BayHawks.

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Kyle Goldcamp survived the first cuts the Erie BayHawks made Tuesday. Erie waived three players./Photo by Janet B. Kummerer/Erie Times-News

Earlier today, I went to Penn State Behrend’s Junker Center to check out the Erie BayHawks practice.

Here are a few notables:

1.Erie waived three players – guard Adrian Bowie out of Maryland, forward Kayode Ayeni out of St. Francis and power forward Joseph Kennerly II out of Central Oklahoma – today. The odds were against Kennerly III because he was one of four true big men in camp.

Erie traded a second-round pick to Idaho for Jeff Graves, drafted 7-footer Chris Daniels in the first round and Kyle Goldcamp has been with the BayHawks for the last two two seasons.

2. Goldcamp said the biggest difference between Erie coach Jay Larranaga’s system of a season ago and how the New York Knicks play is how the big men run the floor. The former Gannon star said before, bigs ran down the middle of the floor. Now the big men are being asked to run the wings to keep the middle open.

The Knicks and BayHawks are in a hybrid partnership.

3. Goldcamp and Graves, out of Kansas, went at each other again today. At age 30, Graves is more seasoned and has more talent, but what Goldcamp does is make you work. One one play, Goldcamp took Graves baseline, missed the shot, but got the rebound and put it back up. Later in practice, Graves made a beautiful drop-step baseline move, took two power dribbles and scored on a reverse.

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Allan Houston is running Erie's b-ball show./NYK.

The 2011-12 D-League season hasn’t started yet and the Erie BayHawks have already made three roster moves.

Fortunately for the BayHawks, the D-League increased roster moves from 10 to 12 this season.

Let’s take a look at the latest one, which may give a good indication of how things are going to be for the BayHawks being in a hybrid partnership with the New York Knicks, who led by Allan Houston is running their basketball operations.

A former star guard with the Knicks, Houston is their assistant general manager.

A day after the draft, Erie traded veteran point guard Blake Ahearn and second-round pick Taj McCullough, a small forward, to Reno for point guard Donald Sloan and its seventh-round pick, veteran forward/center Joe Kennerly III.

Let’s start with the appetizer part of the trade.

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Kyle Spain averaged 8.1 points for Erie in 44 games last season./Photo by Jack Hanrahan/Erie Times-News

Shooters. Rebounders.

That’s how Erie BayHawks general manager of basketball operations, Allan Houston, summarized what Erie will look for in the 2011 D-League Draft, which starts Thursday at 7 p.m.

The BayHawks have the seventh and ninth pick in the first round and have two more picks in the second round. Before figuring out what they need, you got know what they got coming back.

Returning players:

PG – Blake Ahearn (27 years old, 6-2, 190, Missouri State) – Shooter. Scorer (Avg. 16.9 points in 31 games for  Erie last season, 96.2 FT%). Not a great defender, but is scrappy.

PF – Kyle Goldcamp (25 years old, 6-10, 230, Gannon) – Tough. Plays hard. Has a lefty hook, but gets garbage points. Aggressive.

SF – Kyle Spain (6-5, 210, San Diego State) – Plays on the perimeter. Has unlimited range on the jump shot. Struggles defending on perimeter.

SF Chaz McCrommon (6-6, 200, Robert Morris) – Joined Erie late last season. Only played one game for the BayHawks. Considered a solid defender and capable scorer.

Here are the free-agent invites:

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Erie BayHawks point guard Blake Ahearn made the final 12-man roster for the USA Pan American Games Team.

Team USA made the announcement late Wednesday night. The squad will continue practicing in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the men’s tournament, which will run Oct. 26-30 in Guadalajara, Mexico. USA’s first game is against Dominican Republic.

The team consists of several D-League players that include three guys I predicted would make the team – point guard Jerome Dyson of the Tulsa 66ers, small forward Renaldo Major of the Dakota Wizards and forward Lance Thomas of the Austin Toros.

Ahearn will give USA that outside shooting threat and is money from the free throw line, as you can see below.