Las Vegas, Nev. --The last time fans saw Omari Peterkin, the 6-8 senior was helping Boston University to the semifinals of the America East Championship at Agganis Arena, where the Terriers dropped a 59-49 decision to Albany. Now the former Terrier is representing his native Virgin Islands in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The first test for Peterkin and his Virgin Islands' teammates in the championship? LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Team USA on Thursday (August 23) night at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN Classic. The Virgin Islands will also play Canada (August 24), Brazil (August 25) and Venezuela (August 26) with the top teams from the five-team Group 'B' advancing to the quarterfinals where teams from Group 'A' (Argentina, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Uruguay) await.
The top two teams in the FIBA Championship automatically qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, while the third, fourth and fifth place teams earn the opportunity to enter the World Pre-Olympic qualifying event in the summer of 2008.
Peterkin, who averaged 8.0 ppg and a team-best 6.4 rpg last season, is not the only former America East player participating in the championship. Jose Juan Barea, a three-time all-conference player, and Rick Apodaca, a former all-rookie choice, are playing for Puerto Rico.