Former Canisius men's basketball player Billy Baron will be a member of the Detroit Pistons team in the 2015 Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League, which will run from July 4-10 at the Orlando Magic's practice facility at the Amway Center. The 25-game, seven-day event will feature a total of 10 teams, including two entries from the Orlando Magic.
“I am very excited and extremely grateful to the Pistons organization for a chance to be a member of their summer league team in Orlando,” Baron said on Monday at the Koessler Athletic Center. “I know Detroit general manager Jeff Bower from his time as the head coach of Marist, so there was a little connection there. I learned a lot about playing professional basketball last year in Lithuania. I think I'm a better defender and the European game forces you to really play within an offensive system. I am really looking forward to getting down to Orlando to show people that I've matured as a player.”
Baron is back in Buffalo this week working out and preparing for his inaugural Billy Baron Basketball Camp, which will be held June 27-28 at Sweet Home Middle School in Amherst, N.Y. The camp is open to boys and girls ages 10-17 and the cost is $125. Camp runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on both days, and all campers will receive an UnderArmor T-shirt. Walk-ups are welcome to the camp, or you can register in advance by emailing billybaron12@gmail.com.
Baron, the 2014 MAAC Player of the Year, spent the 2104-15 basketball season playing 45 games overseas for the Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius of the Lithuanian-LKL. Vilnius went 35-5 during the regular season before falling to Zalgiris in the league's championship final.
An Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention selection, just the fourth in Canisius history, Baron finished his senior campaign (2013-14) ranked fourth in the nation in scoring average with 24.1 points per game. He was the only Division I men's basketball player in the country to average better than 20.0 points, 5.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game in 2013-14, and he was one of two players in the nation to average more than 20.0 points and 5.0 assists per game in that season. The MAAC's leader in assists per game at 5.3 per contest, he finished his senior season with 180 assists in 34 games for the Griffs, which ranks fourth in school history for assists in a single season.
Baron scored in double figures 33 times in 2013-14, and he was good for 20-plus points in a game 26 times. He had 30 or more points in nine different games, highlighted by his career-high 40-point effort at Siena Feb. 16, 2014. His 821 total points in 2013-14 are the most for a senior in school history and he also set a school record with 107 makes from 3-point range in his senior campaign. He closed out his career at Canisius as just the fourth Griff in the program's 111-year history to score more than 1,400 career points while dishing out 350-plus career assists. A two-time All-MAAC First Team honoree, Baron ended his career as a Griff ranked 11th in career scoring (1,405 points), fourth in career scoring average (20.7 points per game), fourth in career 3-point field goals (173), first in career free-throw percentage (85.9 percent) and ninth in career assists (351).
