Erie resident Marcia Hooks celebrated her cousin, Tony Wroten, Jr., getting drafted tonight./AP Photo.

It was 10:48 p.m. and the party was still going strong at the house of Marcia Hooks in Erie, Pa.

Thirty or so people came to her house to watch the NBA Draft to see her relative – Tony Wroten Jr. – get drafted. The Memphis Grizzlies used the 25th pick in tonight’s draft to pick Wroten Jr., who Hooks said is related to her.

“We jumped for joy,” Hooks said on the phone with the sound of people having fun in the background. “Jumping for joy. They’re still having a grand time.”

Hooks, 55, said Wroten Jr’s great grandfather and her mom were brother and sister.  Hooks said she hadn’t talk to Wroten Jr. yet about the draft, but planned to call her mom, Shirley, later.

“I was trying to give her a chance to get all her calls in because I figure everyone else was trying to give her a call,” Hooks said.

Read the rest of this entry »

Al Nolen/Photo by Rob Engelhardt/ETN

The Erie BayHawks have reduced their roster to 11 after waiving Al Nolen and Marvin Roberts today.

The 6-foot, 1-inch Nolen, a point guard who Erie picked in the fifth round of the 2011 D-League Draft, didn’t participate in any of the scrimmages as he’s recovering from having a pin removed from the foot that he broke in his senior year at Minnesota last season.

Roberts, a 6-5 guard out of Florida International, had issues with a groin injury, but did play in the three-team scrimmage Saturday at Penn State Behrend.  He was invited to training camp after a free-agent tryout.

Now the BayHawks have one more player to cut by 5 p.m. on Nov. 23.

The interesting part about this last cut is forward D.J. Kennedy is just getting back to doing more in camp. Out of St. John’s the 6-5 Kennedy is coming off a season-ending knee injury he had in March.

Erie could make him an injury waiver and retain his rights. If Erie keeps him, that means a small forward/big guard will most likely go.

The guys that fall into the smll forward/big guard category are Chaz McCrommon, who joined the BayHawks at the end of last season, Kyle Spain, who played for Erie last season, Mychel Thompson, who was a third-round pick out of Pepperdine or Tirrell Baines, who was a fourth-round pick out of Marshall.

However, Erie may go a completely different direction to make its final cut. The BayHawks will likely make their final cut either after tonight’s practice or tomorrow morning because they’re headed to Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday for Friday’s season opener against the Vipers.

Here’s a look at who the Erie BayHawks chose in Thursday night’s 2011 D-League Draft. Training camp begins Nov. 10 in Erie.

1st round: (7th overall) SG Cory Higgins (6-5, 190, Colorado). Avg. 16.1 points his senior season at Colorado in 2010-11. He’s the son of former NBA player and the president of basketball operations for the Charlotte Bobcats, Rod Higgins.

Read the rest of this entry »