A former Duquesne standout and a future member of the Dukes will be on different British basketball rosters later this summer.

Kieron Achara, a 6-foot-10 center/forward and Duquesne's 19th all-time scorer with 1,240 points, is among the 27 players on the preliminary roster who will compete for positions at the national team's London selection camp in August. NBA stars Luol Dang and Ben Gordon, both of the Chicago Bulls, along with former Atlantic 10 Conference players Pops Mensah-Bonsu (George Washington) and Dzaflo Larkai (La Salle) and current A-10 player Ben Eaves (Rhode Island) also will try out for the team.

The national team will attempt to qualify for the European Championships in 2009-10 and the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Achara, who played this past season as a graduate student, is a native of Stirling, Scotland.

Morakinyo Williams, a 6-11 transfer from Kentucky who will sit out the 2008-09 season and have three years eligibility at Duquesne, is on the 15-man under-20 team that will compete in the European Division B Championships Aug. 1-10 in Targu Mures, Romania.

Williams, a native of Solihull, England, averaged 0.8 points and 1.0 rebounds in five games this past season, He averaged 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in 2006-07 as a senior at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Va., and was a Top 100 recruit by Bob Gibbons.

Soaring with Blue Jays

Johns Hopkins outfielder Brian Youchak, a graduate of Vincentian Academy, was named first-team NCAA Division III All-America by the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3Baseball.com. The redshirt sophomore batted .467 with nine home runs and 59 RBIs. Youchak helped the Blue Jays (42-8) set a school season record for wins and finish second in the national tournament.

Terrific Tomcats

Thiel's baseball team, which finished 29-15, led NCAA Division III with 11.0 runs per game, 3.14 doubles per game and .582 slugging percentage. Individually, Chris Dunham was eighth with 15 home runs and 10th with 63 RBIs, Justin Scarpitti was ninth with 62 runs scored and Josh Tedesco was third with 11 pitching victories.

Saint Vincent all-stars

Recent Saint Vincent graduates Lauren Eller and Lauren Jones will play for the North squad in the NCAA Division II Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association/Under Armour North-South Senior All-Star game Saturday in Downington, Pa. Eller led the Lady Bearcats with 39 goals and 14 assists, and Jones was a midfielder with six goals and an assists.

California moves up

California finished eighth in the Sports Academy Directors' Cup awarded to the most successful overall athletic program in NCAA Division II for the 2007-08 year. It was the highest finish for California, which was ahead of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference members West Chester (12th), Slippery Rock (26th), Bloomsburg (28th) and Edinboro (47th).

The Vulcans' men's and women's basketball teams each reached the Elite 8, the football team advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs and the women's volleyball team and women's tennis team both participated in the Sweet 16. The golf team competed in national championships, and both men and women went to the indoor and outdoor national track and field championships.