Drexel alum Battle joins NBA Summer League

He happened to stay at the Palms Casino Resort, which is run by the Maloof brothers, owners of the Sacramento Kings. Battle met a stranger who said he knew somebody who knew somebody, and the next thing the 6-foot-8 forward knew, he got a call.

Battle will be in uniform when the Kings open play in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas on Friday.

"I wound up meeting the right people," said Battle, who has plied his trade overseas the last five years.

Battle, who left Drexel as the team's single-season leader in blocks with 116 as a senior in 2002-03, averaged 10.9 points and 6.0 rebounds in his Dragons career. His last two seasons there, he was an all-Colonial Athletic Association first-team selection and the league's defensive player of the year.

Since then, Battle has won championships in Argentina and Spain and played in France and Turkey. Last season, he averaged 12.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks to lead Valladolid to the second-division title in the Spanish League.

In Las Vegas, where 21 NBA teams will be represented in league play through July 19, Battle's teammates will include Chester's Tyreke Evans (Memphis), Medford's Jason Thompson (Rider), and Pat Calathes (St. Joseph's).

"I look at it as a challenge," said Battle, who has offers to return overseas should things not work out with the Kings. "Every year, getting back here to an NBA Summer League or camp was my goal. I see myself as a success overseas, and I want to transfer that to here. I just want to go out and do what I have to do. I have nothing to lose."