Aug. 16, 2007
Columbia, Mo. - Mizzou junior forward Leo Lyons became increasingly familiar with Interstate 70 over the summer months as he made as many as three trips a week from the University of Missouri campus to his hometown of Kansas City to compete in the eight-team Kansas City Pro-Am Basketball League from mid-June through early-August.
Lyons, who competed for Wolves Klub L.L.C., would often lift and workout with teammates in the morning and early afternoons, before making the near two-hour trek to Penn Valley Community College for games later that evening.
Lyons, whose team went 6-2 during the regular season and 3-1 in postseason play, led the club and ranked among league leaders with 30.8 points and 8.6 boards in 12 contests, including a season high of 37 points in the regular season.
"It was a real good experience," Lyons said. "It was great having a chance to come back to Kansas City and show people how much I have improved during my time here at Mizzou. It was also fun to see how much the other guys have improved as well, the guys that have gone off to college and the guys that have gone overseas to play professionally. Overall, this is a great program and I'm glad Kansas City has one. I plan on coming back to play in it as long as it's around."
Although Lyons and the Wolves dropped a one-point decision to Team Fadeaway in the KC Pro-Am Championship Game, the 6-foot-9 forward looked back on the summer as a way to stay in "game shape" with the opening of practice and fall workouts quickly approaching.
"Being in a competitive environment is good for any athlete," Lyons said. "It doesn't matter if it is a pick-up game, a summer league game or a Big 12 game, you want to win. Having a chance to come to K.C. and compete against these teams gave me some great experience and exposure. I was able to take the aspects of my game that I have been focusing on during summer workouts and use them in a competitive setting."
Lyons and the rest of the Missouri Basketball team will return to campus this weekend, before starting the fall semester on Aug. 20. With the releasing of Mizzou's 2007-08 basketball schedule on Wednesday, the Tigers will open exhibition play on Nov. 3 against the University of Missouri-St. Louis and start regular-season action on Nov. 12 in the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. Opponents and times for the first and second rounds of the CBE Classic will be announced at a later date by tournament officials.