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Ross To Put In Offseason Work At Portland Pro Am

Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com

Terrence Ross isn’t wasting any time when it comes to filling up his offseason schedule. Joining long-time friend and current Houston Rockets forward Terrence Jones, Ross will be heading home to Portland for some summer basketball. 

The Portland Pro Am will give fans an opportunity to watch games featuring NBA talent playing alongside overseas and college players. Ross and Jones will each have their own team. In addition to basketball, the two will sponsor community initiatives that give resources to young athletes in the area. 

“I’m really excited to be a part of the Pro Am, I think it will be another piece that helps establish Portland as a basketball city,” Ross said in the Portland Pro Am release. “There are some great players that have come out of this city and this is something they can put their stamp on.”

The two were teammates at Jefferson High School and won a pair of championships together, with Ross winning the Oregon 5A Player of the Year before transferring to Montrose Christian School in Maryland for his junior year. Ross returned to Jefferson midway through his senior year of high school and went on to Washington to play two seasons with the Huskies before being drafted eighth overall by the Raptors in 2012.

The Portland Pro Am games will be played at Multnomah University and will follow NBA rules with experienced coaches and high-level officials. It will run through July and August and will provide a window into the talent coming out of the Pacific North West. 

Los Angeles Clippers’ swingman Jamal Crawford has a hugely popular Seattle Pro Am team where NBA teammates swing by to play in front of packed gyms with lines that stream around the corner for fans hoping to catch a glimpse of some NBA talent up close. Crawford hosted a Midnight Madness game before his own wedding that featured an All-Star worthy roster of players and guests. Ross put on a dazzling dunking exhibition in an appearance in the Seattle Pro Am last summer.

Ross has also previously made appearances in Los Angeles, suiting up at the Drew League to support teammates DeMar DeRozan and Amir Johnson. Jonas Valanciunas and Kyle Lowry have also made trips to Los Angeles for Drew League appearance, while Valanciunas spent a portion of last year's offseason in Oregon working with Oregon Ducks strength and conditioning coach Jim Radcliffe on quickness and agility.

The release from the Portland Pro Am states that Ross “hopes to host some of his current and former teammates” at the games this summer, so perhaps some of his Raptors teammates could be returning the favor.