Aug. 2, 2011

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Ashley Hamilton, who will be a redshirt junior for the LMU men's basketball team this upcoming 2011-12 season, returned home to England to begin training with the Standard Life Great Britain Senior Men's National Team in preparation for a string of exhibition contests and EuroBasket 2011.

Hamilton left for England at the end of July to join the senior national team at their camp in Cobham. Hamilton is one of 24 players participating in workouts for the EuroBasket 2011 competition that begins Aug. 31.

The team will play eight exhibition events in the month of August, starting with Netherlands on Aug. 7 in Cobham, Surrey. The team will then play five "Olympic Test Events" at Olympic Park in Stratford as London prepares to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

Hamilton, who played with the Britain Senior National Team all last summer in 2010, will have the opportunity to play with NBA players Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, and Ryan Richards.

In 2010-11, Hamilton overcame a broken had (he missed seven games) and managed to average 9.1 points and 5.7 rebounds in his redshirt sophomore season. After two seasons, he is averaging 8.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in his career at LMU.

Also making the 24-man roster is LMU alum Chris Ayer ('06). Ayer has spent the last five years playing professional basketball in Okinawa, Japan for the Ryuku Golden Kings. He also played this past year in the NBA Development League in North Dakota.

Chris averaged 13.3 points, 24 minutes per game, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.5 assists and had 21 steals while playing in 46 games in Japan.

Follow the Standard Life Britain Basketball Team this month by clicking here.