From the official site of the United States Basketball League, word on three former Patriot League players in the struggling late spring-summer league.

Former Bucknell standout Boakai Lalugba and ex-Lafayette big man Franklin Barr are suiting up for the Hackensack-based New Jersey Flyers, an expansion franchise. The Flyers opened the season Friday night at the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs, a franchise that appears to be clinging to life, barely.

According to the Express-Times only four players showed up for the team's first practice. One of those was Winston Davis:

Davis, a former Lafayette College star, was eager to answer the call from the ValleyDawgs -- which came from Amato earlier Wednesday. Davis, who lives on College Hill, was drafted by the ValleyDawgs last season but never played.

"I was injured last year," Davis said. "I've been at Lafayette, working out. When you get the opportunity to play, you play. That's just how it works."

Another Lafayette player, Sean Knitter, who was a senior on this year's Leopards squad, was selected in the fourth round of the USBL draft by the Darryl Dawkins coached ValleyDawgs. No word on whether he plans to sign with the team.

Knitter is not the only one the ValleyDawgs are waiting for a decision from. The league is also waiting for a commitment from a new owner.

According to the Morning Call:

The ValleyDawgs came close to dropping out of the eight-team United States Basketball League when overspending on player contracts forced former Pennsylvania owner Service Electric to cut ties with the team.

The USBL negotiated a deal with Kentucky investor Valerie McQueen to support the ValleyDawgs with financial backing, although league director of operations Ed Krinsky said Wednesday that hasn't yet been finalized. Krinsky added he expects the deal to be completed soon.

That deal may have fallen through. In a report on the opener, won 107-105 by the ValleyDawgs, the Morning Call said:

As of now, the USBL is funding and operating Pennsylvania, because Valerie McQueen of Newport, Kent., did not sign the paperwork. Ed Krinsky, the USBL director of basketball operations, said he made a handshake deal with McQueen Monday night at a restaurant in West Allentown.

We could not find any box score from the game.

Lalugba, by the way, has been playing professionally in Europe since graduating from Bucknell. The 6-5 forward averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds per game in Finland last season.