GER - Former college stars head to Bundesliga

BERLIN (Bundesliga) - The University of Pittsburgh's Carl Krauser and Missouri's Jimmy McKinney have completed moves to Bundesliga duo EWE Baskets Oldenburg and Deutsche Bank Skyliners respectively.

Compact point guard Krauser averaged 15 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals in his final season with Pittsburgh after declaring for the NBA Draft but pulling his name out of the running before last season.

The 25-year-old American, who was an amateur boxer before concentrating on basketball, helped the Pittsburgh Panthers to two NCAA tournament Sweet 16 appearances and one Big East regular season championship.

Oldenburg coach Don Beck, who has signed Krauser for one season, said: "Carl Krauser is highly talented, enormously ambitious and a good defender."

Directing manager Hermann Schueller added: "After Ajmal Basit (rebound specialist), Krauser is the next most important part of our new team. The weakness we had at playmaker is gone now with the leadership qualities of this player."

McKinney, meanwhile, has signed a two-year deal with 2004 German champions Deutsche Bank Skyliners.

The 22-year-old American averaged 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists last season while earning All Big 12 Honourable mention honours for Missouri.

Skyliners coach Charles Barton said: "He's an all-arounder who can play both guard positions, score but also defend very well and pass.

"But what really convinced me about Jimmy were his personal qualities. A player's character is very decisive in putting together a team. That's why we've kept an eye on what kind of guys we're getting off the court. Jimmy is a good guy, and I'm happy to work with him."

In other Bundesliga news, Tyray Pearson has joined Telekom Baskets Bonn from BS Energy Braunschweig.

Pearson, who had two very strong seasons in Portugal arriving in Germany, averaged 13.9 points, 9.4 rebounds (third-best in the league) and 1.2 steals last season with Braunschweig.

Bonn coach Michael Koch said: "Tyray will really help us a lot in rebounding. The fact that he's also an excellent scorer makes him even more valuable for us."

PA Sport