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July 23, 2009

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Former Western Washington University men's basketball guard Ira Graham (Fontana, CA) has been invited to a tryout with the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association.

The 6-foot-1 Graham will travel to Washington, D.C. in August to participate in the Wizards' tryout. A strong showing there could lead to a free agent signing with Graham either being placed on Washington's roster or assigned to its NBA Development League team, the Dakota Wizards.

The 23-year-old Graham recently completed a superb rookie professional season with the Bellingham Slam. He started all 22 games, averaging 18.5 points per game on 52.9 percent field-goal shooting.

Graham, who led the team in assists with a 5.5 average, scored a season-high 40 points against the Edmonton Energy on May 16, and gave the Slam its most dramatic win of the season with a buzzer-beating shot versus the Vancouver Volcanoes on May 23.

Earlier this week, Graham was one of four Bellingham Slam players named to the International Basketball League all-star team.

Graham had an outstanding collegiate career at Western, being named the school's 2008-09 Male Athlete of the Year. As a senior, he was a fourth-team Division II Bulletin All-American, Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year, and played in the NABC Division II All-Star game.

Graham scored 515 points in 2008-09, becoming the first Western player to have two 500-point seasons. He helped the Vikings to a 21-6 record, the school's first outright GNAC title, and the first round of the NCAA II West Regional.

Graham averaged 19.1 points, being Western's top scorer and finishing second among the GNAC's point leaders, each for the second straight season.

A four-year letter winner for the Vikings, Graham finished his career with 1,465 points, tying him for seventh in school history.