May 13, 2010

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - - University of Memphis guard Ramses Lonlack (Bertoua, Cameroon) has been invited to participate in the Cameroon National Team Camp. Eighteen players from Cameroon, including 10 foreign-based players (including NCAA collegians) have been invited to the camp in Yaounde. The full squad will report to camp by Monday, May 17th, and will begin practicing for the qualifying rounds of the All-African games and the Afrobasket 2011 tournament. The camp will cut the team roster down to 12 players in preparation for the All-African tournament. The Cameroon team will host the qualifying rounds this year, hosting Congo and Sierra Leone, among other teams.

This is the first time Lonlack will suit up for her national team, as she left Cameroon for the United States four years ago, and this will be her first trip home since she was a high school sophomore.

A major in civil engineering at the University of Memphis, Lonlack had class obligations that did not allow her to take advantage of previous invitations from the Cameroon national team.

"This is the fourth time they have called me to play in the games," Lonlack said. "But this is the first time I can represent my country and the first big thing for me to show people what I've been doing at the university here."

Lonlack will have a couple of teammates in the camp who are also familiar with the college experience. Priscilla Mbiandia (UL-Monroe), Valerie Avebe (Merrimack College) and Beatrice Bofia (Arizona) will also be present at the team camp.

"I'm going to play with other girls from Cameroon, but we haven't played or even met in college," Lonlack said. "It's kind of crazy that the first time we are going to meet is in Cameroon, but it's going to be fun."

The camp will run from May 17th until May 28th, when the competition starts for the All-Africa tournament. That tournament will run from May 29th-June 6th and will give Lonlack an opportunity to play in front of her family for the first time. "It is going to be the first time for my parents and especially my brother, Paul Mary, to actually see me play," Lonlack said.

Lonlack was named to the Conference USA All-Defensive Team and the Women's Basketball Invitational All-Tournament team earlier this season. Lonlack led C-USA with 96 steals, falling just one short of tying the Memphis single season record.