ILLANGAKOON TO PLAY PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL IN AUSTRALIA
Former Westfield State College men's basketball player
Gavin Illangakoon recently signed a professional
contract to play in Australia.
The Melbourne, Australia, native will play for the 2008 edition of
Albury-Wodonga Bandits of the South East Australian Basketball
League (SEABL), which is the second highest level of basketball in
Australia.
The Bandits joined the SEABL in 1984 and won their first East
Conference championship in 2001. Albury-Wodonga is located three
hours from Melbourne and one of the largest inland population
centers in the country with 90,000 people.
"We here at Westfield State are elated that Gavin has the
opportunity to pursue his goal of playing professional basketball,"
said Westfield State men's basketball head coach Rich
Sutter. "He is a tireless worker who represented Westfield
State extremely well both on and off the court."
Illangakoon finished his fine four-year Westfield State career with
913 career points. The 6-2 guard was a two-time all-conference
player for the Owls. Last season he averaged 12.3 points per game
and led the Owls in assists (4.3) and free throw shooting
(95-for-128, 75 percent). He ranked second in steals (1.7 per game)
and 3-point shooting (40-for-128, 38 percent).
Illangakoon is a high honors student and will graduate from
Westfield State this December with a degree in economics and
finance. He came to Westfield from Ellington (CT) High School,
where he was an international exchange student.
