Former EKU star to team up with former UK standout in NBA Summer League
Former Eastern Kentucky University standout Nick Mayo was not selected in last week’s NBA Draft, but he’s still going to have an opportunity to make a roster.
The Miami Heat announced that the All-Ohio Valley Conference forward will be on their roster for NBA Summer League play in Sacramento and Las Vegas starting next week.
The Sacramento Kings host their California Classic July 1-3. The Heat then move on to the larger NBA Summer League in Vegas from July 5-15.
Mayo, EKU’s all-time leading scorer, joins a Miami Summer League roster led by former University of Kentucky standout Tyler Herro, the No. 13 overall selection in last week’s draft.
The 6-foot-9 Mayo will be battling for playing time on the 12-man roster with a group of Heat frontcourt hopefuls familiar to Southeastern Conference fans — Yante Maten (Georgia), Chris Silva (South Carolina) and Kyle Alexander (Tennessee).
Mayo finished his career fifth on the OVC’s all-time scoring list and 145th on the NCAA’s all-time scoring list with 2,316 points.
He is only the second player in the 71-year history of the OVC to be named first team all-conference four times. Western Kentucky’s Ralph Crosthwaite (1954-59) is the other.
Mayo ranked second in the OVC and 10th in the country in scoring (23.7 points-per-game) during the 2018-19 season. He also led the OVC in free throw percentage (86.4 percent), tied for second in blocks per game (1.8) and ranked fourth in rebounds per game (8.7).
Miami’s first game in the California Classic is Monday at 9 p.m. EDT against the Los Angeles Lakers and will be televised on NBA TV.