Foyle cut from Denver’s
summer league roster
Former Brigham Young-Hawaii basketball player Alexus Foyle's first official NBA experience ended with a wink and a smile yesterday.
After a two-day tryout, Foyle was cut from the Nuggets' summer league team yesterday, sending him to Long Beach, Calif., to participate with a team of NBA free agents. Foyle beat out a group of 40 hopefuls to make that team prior to accepting an invitation from Nuggets' assistant coach and former Hawaii player Jarinn Akana to try out for the team.
"I am leaving here smiling because I am confident in my abilities," Foyle said. "It was a good experience and I learned some things. They said if I work on my outside shot a little more they can compare me to (San Antonio's) Malik Rose. I just laughed at that because I am a lot quicker than Malik Rose, they couldn't stop me."
Hawaii product Predrag Savovic made the team without trying out despite having his contract expire July 1. He will use the summer leagues -- he also will play for the Nuggets at the Rocky Mountain Revue on July 19-26 at Salt Lake City -- to convince the Nuggets to sign him for another year.
"Every time you play you are auditioning for somebody," Savovic said. "But I hope I will be able to stay with Denver, I like the location and the team. I'd go overseas if I had to, though."
Foyle -- who has not hired an agent -- says he will not go overseas. He hopes to catch the eye of an NBA coach at the Long Beach league and get an invitation to play in the NBA's developmental league.
"I have not given up," Foyle said. "I am a survivor."