PRESS RELEASE
LAFAYETTE – Former Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball star Shawn Long became the second alum in as many days to earn an invitation to the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League when he selected by the Chicago Bulls in an announcement on Wednesday.
The Morgan City, La., native and member of the 2015 U.S. Pan American Men’s Basketball Team, will join former Ragin’ Cajuns great Jay Wright in the Summer League. Wright, a three-year letterwinner for the Ragin’ Cajuns, earned an invitation on Tuesday with the NBA’s Orlando Magic.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play on a NBA stage and showcase what I can do,” Long said. “Hopefully, things will go up from there. Either way, I plan on making the best of it.”
In his second year at the professional level, Long averaged 14.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 blocks for the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. Long began the 2017-18 season with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, where he averaged 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest.
Long played 18 games with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers during the 2016-17 season, averaging 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds. He was named a 2017 NBA D-League All-Star as a rookie after averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds in 39 games with Delaware.
Long, the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and honorable mention Associated Press All-American, led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring (18.9), rebounds (12.1) and blocked shots (1.8) as a senior in 2015-16.
Long finished as the all-time leading rebounder in both Ragin’ Cajuns and Sun Belt Conference history, pulling down 1,447 boards during his four-year career.
Long finished third in scoring in Ragin’ Cajuns history, trailing Dwight "Bo" Lamar and Andrew Toney, and was the Ragin’ Cajuns all-time leader in blocked shots (273), games started (131) and double-doubles (75). Long’s 75 double-doubles are the 12th-best total in NCAA history and he finished second in Sun Belt Conference history in both scoring and blocked shots.
His 411 rebounds recorded during the 2015-16 season tied former Ragin’ Cajuns great Roy Ebron (1971-72) for the second-best total in a single-season in school history.
MGM Resorts NBA Summer League, which features all 30 NBA teams for the first time, will tip off with a record 10 games on Friday, July 6 and continue through Tuesday, July 17 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The first day of action will include five games on NBA TV and a tripleheader on ESPN.
The tournament-style format will culminate with the Championship Game on July 17 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. Last year’s event, won by the Los Angeles Lakers behind 2017 Summer League MVP Lonzo Ball and 2017-18 NBA All-Rookie First Team selection Kyle Kuzma, set records for total attendance, single-day attendance, combined viewership across ESPN and NBA TV, and traffic to the NBA’s social and digital platforms.
For the second consecutive year, ESPN will present every game from Las Vegas via the ESPN App, along with a record 46 games on its linear television channels (ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU). NBA TV, co-managed by the NBA and Turner Sports, will air 36 games, beginning with the Summer League opener on July 6.
Each team will play a minimum of five games at MGM Resorts NBA Summer League, starting with three preliminary contests from July 6-10. The teams will then be seeded in the tournament, which starts on July 11 and concludes with the Championship Game on July 17.
Tickets for MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2018 are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting NBATickets.com.
Follow the Ragin’ Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsMBB), Facebook (Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsMBB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Men’s Basketball.
Below is the Bulls’ complete schedule for MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2018:
* All times listed are Central
Saturday, July 7
8:30 p.m. – Chicago vs. Cleveland (ESPN2)
Sunday, July 8
10:30 p.m. – Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago (ESPN2)
Tuesday, July 10
5 p.m. – Atlanta vs. Chicago (NBA TV)