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.