University of Virginia Library

Parkhill Gains Bid To Olympic Try-Outs;
McMillen, Burleson, Also Tendered Invites

By BILL BERNO

Barry Parkhill was officially
named a member of the
Olympic trials basketball team
yesterday, and will participate
in a "development camp" to be
held this summer.

The camp, which will begin
June 12 at the U. S. Air
Force Academy in Colorado
Springs, Col., brings together
28 collegiate underclassmen
and about 20 players from
AAU squads, high schools and
junior colleges across the
nation to compete for spots on
the final Olympic team which
will travel to Munich in
September.

There is also a possibility
that a few graduating collegians
will forego the signing of a pro
contract to compete in the
trials.

The 28 NCAA stars were
chosen by a committee which
included Olympic basketball
coach Henry Iba, who directed
a "mediocre" 1968 squad to
the gold medal. As everyone
knows by now, the United
States has never lost a
basketball game in the
Olympics.

A sizeable contingent from
the ACC area will also travel to
Colorado with Parkhill. Adding
considerable height will be 7-4
Tommy Burleson and 6-11
Tom McMillen, newly chosen
Most Valuable Player of the
NIT. Sophomore Bobby Jones
of North Carolina and South
Carolina's center-guard combo
of Danny Traylor and Kevin
Joyce round out the group.

Other notables include
UCLA's Bill Walton and Keith
Wilkes, Luke Witte and Alan
Hornyak of Ohio State, Ed
Ratleff and Chuck Terry of
Long Beach State, and Steve
Downing of Indiana.

Barry Parkhill

Parkhill, who has enough
credentials to fill a warehouse,
was notified Feb. 14 of his
invitation by Coach Iba, and at
that time announced that he
was turning down all pro offers
in order to play for the
Olympic squad. This does not
mean that "Mr. BP" is assured
of a spot on the team as there
are 50 players trying to make
the 15-member team.

However, after leading the
ACC in scoring with a 21.8
average and being selected the
conference's Player of the
Year, Parkhill is a strong
contender to nail down one of
the guard spots. He was chosen
on a variety of All-American
teams and finished third in the
Associated Press balloting for
national Player of the Year.

Parkhill went to basketball
camp last summer and was so
impressive that L. A. Lakers'
guard Jerry West observed him
and remarked that, "If he was
a senior he'd be our number
one draft pick." Hopefully, Mr.
BP will be able to impress
Coach Iba and land a spot on
the Olympic squad.