Former Syracuse women’s basketball star Brittney Sykes invited to Team USA camp

Former Syracuse Orange guard Brittney Sykes is headed to the U.S. National Team camp in Seattle next week, to compete for a spot on Team USA. Sykes, who was an all-rookie selection in the WNBA after her first season with the Atlanta Dream, is one of just 19 players invited -- pulled from a larger collection of players that made the initial pool back in February.

While in Seattle, they’ll be making final Team USA decisions for the 2018 FIBA World Cup squad which will compete in Spain this fall. Congrats and good luck to Brittney!

Also, the rest of today’s Syracuse-related news:

Brittney Sykes Selected for National Team Camp in Seattle (Cuse.com)

Sykes will be joined at team camp with Atlanta Dream teammates Layshia Clarendon, Tiffany Hayes, and Elizabeth Williams. Seattle’s camp will be the third in USA’s preparations for the 2018 FIBA World Cup, which will be held Sept. 22-20 in Tenerife, Spain.

It’s Year 0.5 for Randy Edsall at UConn (SB Nation)

The depths of Year Zero don’t really matter, though. The only thing that matters is if you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Edsall may have done that, though there’s a pretty good chance that Year One will only be so much better than Year Zero. Lashlee left to take the SMU coordinator job — he was so far away from his home base that you didn’t figure he was going to stay for long...

Suspended Syracuse parks commissioner Lazarus Sims charged with grand larceny (Syracuse.com)

“Lazarus has done a lot of good for Syracuse and, in particular, for young people in the city,” Walsh said in a news release. “We will review the charges while we work with legal counsel to determine the appropriate next step in light of this development.”

Nick Martin emerges as SU’s do-it-all player in crucial situations (Daily Orange)

While the rest of SU’s faceoff specialists combined for 7-of-27 at the faceoff X, Martin went perfect in the game’s final five minutes. Martin has entered games in tough situations all season. As a backup faceoff specialist and the short-stick defender on No. 9 Syracuse’s (7-4, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) man-down unit, Martin is often called on sporadically to give his team a lift. And almost always, he has delivered.

2017-18 ALL-USA New York Boys Basketball Team (USA Today)

Ryan Blackwell, Liverpool The former Syracuse standout guided the Warriors to the Class AA state championship, the first in school history, in just his third year at the helm. Liverpool won its first 26 games, including a 69-65 victory over Half Hollow Hills East in the state title game, before falling in the semifinals of the Federation Championships.

Aidan Tooker is ready to lead SU track in the post-Justyn Knight era (Daily Orange)

Duke, Kentucky and the limits of one-and-done rosters (ESPN)

Big pay raises coming for G League players (The New York Times)

Jordan Brand Is Bringing Back The Melo 1.5 In PE Colorways (Sneaker News)

Illinois Football Poised To Become Even Less Watchable With Awful Nike Uniforms (Off Tackle Empire)

Today’s music selection: