May 11, 2006

St. Louis - Saint Louis guard Kevin Lisch (Belleville, Ill. / Althoff) will play for an Athletes in Action team guided by Billikens assistant coach Jason Grunkemeyer in a tour of France this summer. The team of current and former NCAA Division I players will compete against French professional teams from Aug. 10-25.

"This will be a good learning experience and a chance to test my abilities against professionals from overseas," Lisch said. "It is a chance to play with other college players from around the country, have a lot of fun and improve as a basketball player. Plus, the adjustment to international rules should be interesting."

Lisch was selected to the 2006 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team after his debut season when he was the Bills' second-leading scorer at 11.1 points per game. He was SLU's top three-point shooter with 58 treys, which set the SLU freshman single-season record, and he ranked third in the A-10 in three-point shooting percentage at .414.

"Coaching an Athletes in Action team provides an opportunity to combine my Christian faith with my love for basketball," said Grunkemeyer, who has spent five seasons on the Billikens' coaching staff. "The experience gained in assuming head coaching duties for this team will be tremendously beneficial to my professional development. However, the most gratifying aspect of working with Athletes in Action is the opportunities for spiritual growth for everyone involved."

"With Jason's aspirations to be a collegiate head coach, this is a truly positive experience, because he can run his own shop for two weeks with good college players and test his theories," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "It is a completely different world when you make that move over to the head coach's seat, and this allows Jason the opportunity for some trial and error in a less pressurized setting.

"For Kevin, the trip is another piece toward his growth as a complete player," Soderberg said. "He does an incredible job working on individual skill development. Now, he just needs the benefit of playing more games. At a quiet time of the year for college basketball players, Kevin will be competing against high-quality talent."

Other players on the roster include Tim Bush (Baylor), Ajay Calvin (Drake), Daven Harmeling (Washington State), McKale Jones (Tennessee-Martin), Rob Kampman (Wichita State), Bryan Richardson (West Florida), Ryan Sears (Creighton), Trent Meacham (Illinois), Anthony Tolliver (Creighton) and Dane Watts (Creighton).