| August 23, 2004 |
LeRoy Hurd to play basketball next season in Greece
Download LeRoy Hurd's updated bio
SAN ANTONIO - Deciding to forego an invitation to part of the upcoming San Antonio Spurs fall training camp as a free agent, former UTSA men's basketball player LeRoy Hurd has signed a contract to play for Peristeri Athens in the Greek A1 League.
The 2004 Southland Conference (SLC) Most Valuable Player, Hurd played in July for the Spurs summer-league team at the Midwest Rookie Revue in Salt Lake City, Utah, averaging 5.8 points per game while starting in five contests.
Hurd, who headed to Athens to join his team on Aug. 20, will be part of a Peristeri team that advanced to the Greek Cup semifinals in 2004. He will be joined on the roster by former University of Cincinnati Bearcat standout Pete Mickeal who averaged 20.8 points per game for Peristeri last season. Past players for Peristeri include former top collegians Erick Barkley, Eric Cuthrell, Andre Hutson and Michael Stewart, as well as Marko Jaric, who now plays for the Los Angeles Clippers.
"Going to Greece is a great opportunity for me and my family," said Hurd, who thought that he might originally sign with a team in Italy. "I was learning Italian before the team from Greece called and I had to change my mindset. I am going to go over there and continue to develop my game so that I will have more options in the future."
Hurd, a 6-7 forward, led the SLC in scoring last season with 19.4 points per game. He also averaged 8.0 rebounds and helped lead UTSA to the conference regular season and tournament championships, as well as its third NCAA Tournament appearance. Hurd, who led the SLC in scoring in both his junior and senior seasons, worked out for Houston, Memphis and Miami in addition to the Spurs, but was not drafted in the June 24th NBA Draft.
He ended his UTSA career with 1,029 career points in only two seasons, which ranks him No. 11 all-time in school history. He graduated in August from UTSA with a bachelor's degree in sociology.