Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

Murray

Linton Murray Jr., one of the top basketball players in Jamaica and captain of the 2007 Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)/National Basketball League (NBL) champions, Urban Knights, has accepted a full basketball scholarship to attend Campbellsville University in Kentucky, United States.

Murray, who was voted finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) and also for the 2006-07 mid-season finals, will play for division two Campbellsville, the Tigers, who currently hold the titles of 2006 mid-South Conference tournament champions and 2007 NAIA Sweet 16 participants.

Murray states that he is committed to utilising every aspect of the scholarship and to work diligently, looking to get drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) within the next four years.

"Once I apply my skills at the college level I am going to work hard so I can get called to the NBA. If not I want to play in the development league or play basketball in Europe," Murray said.

Booming talent

"It would be a plus and they would see that Jamaican talent is really blossoming overseas. You cannot leave anything to chance. If I continue playing at the level I played this season and how I have approached life then I will make it overseas. It's an opportunity of a lifetime," he added.

The Tigers are slated to begin the 2007-08 season with their sights set squarely on an unprecedented third straight trip to the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City in March.

An avid basketball player since 2001, Murray will pursue a Bachelors of Arts (BA) degree in business administration and is scheduled to start classes on January 21.

He is the fourth student-athlete in the last four weeks to receive basketball scholarships as Christopher Villas (Excelsior High), Melvin Robinson (St. George's High) and Omari Williams (Calabar High) all left the island recently to take up scholarship offers at Southside Baptist Christian School in Richmond, Virginia.

Murray, an annual attendee at the Star Search Basketball and Life Skills Development Camp held at the G.C. Foster College and sponsored by the Jamaica Basketball Development (JBD) Inc., Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA), Nike and KFC, was drafted into the programme by Michael Minto (group treasurer), based on his performance at the camp and his overall achievements during last year's and this season's NBL.

Started in 2000, the Jamaica Basketball Development (JBD), Inc., a non-profit organisation, contributes to the development of student-athletes in Jamaica. The group is comprised of former Jamaican national basketball team members now living in the United States.