Former Illini basketball player Warren Carter worked out with the Utah Jazz this weekend in preparation for Thursday’s NBA draft.

Carter was one of three big men at the Zions Bank Basketball Center in Salt Lake City. UNLV center Joel Anthony and Louisiana State forward Glen Davis also attended the pre-draft session.

Carter told UtahJazz.com that he had been in touch with former Illini teammate Dee Brown, who is currently in Champaign-Urbana running a basketball camp at Urbana High School, but has been playing phone tag with Deron Williams.

“They said just go in there and play your game and have fun,” Carter said. “I’ve known Deron since high school. They said just go in there relaxed and pretty much at this point it’s in God’s hands. I do feel comfortable with some of the things that we were doing.”

Anderson wins futures title

Illinois junior tennis player Kevin Anderson won the first American futures title of his career Sunday, capturing first place at the 2007 Trius Technologies 15,000 USA F13 Futures event in Sacramento. Anderson, who won the 2006 NCAA doubles title with Ryan Rowe, defeated top-seeded Ivan Miranda of Peru 7-6 (4), 6-3, in the finals. He and Rowe then fell to Sadik Kadir and Adam Kennedy of Australia in the doubles final.

Rowe went 3-1 in Sacramento, advancing into the main draw before falling to Sadik Kadir of Australia.

Former Illini Ryler DeHeart also earned a spot in the main draw, defeating Santiago Gonzales of Mexico in the first round before falling to fourth-seeded Nicholas Monroe of the United States in three sets.

Golf coach finishes tied for second, qualifies for PGA Championship

Illinois head golf coach Mike Small finished tied for second place at the PGA Professional National Championship in Sunriver, Ore. this past weekend.

Small entered the final round at Crosswater Golf Club tied for fourth, but jumped up the leaderboard into second after shooting a 1-over par 73 on the final day. Chip Sullivan finished four shots ahead of Small at 6-under par to win the tournament, shooting a 2-under par 70 in the final round to pull away from the field.

With his top-20 finish Small has earned a berth into the field of the 89th PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club on August 9-12 in Tulsa, Okla.

It is the fourth straight year that Small has qualified for the PGA Championship. The last time Small made the cut at the PGA was in 2005 at Baltusrol.

Women’s gymnastics team adds Florida native to 2007-2008 class

Florida standout Lashlee Morris signed a national letter of intent with the Illini women’s gymnastics team for the upcoming 2007-08 season.

Illini women’s gymnastics coach Bob Starkell announced the signing of Morris on Friday. Morris will join Allison Buckley (Conant HS, Schaumburg, Ill.), Melissa Fernandez (Eudora HS, Eudora, Kan.) and Samantha Perino (Tabb HS, Yorktown, Va.) in next year’s freshman class.

The Leesburg, Fla. native is a two-time Level 10 national qualifier and finished 19th in the all-around and 11th on beam at the 2007 Level 10 nationals in the Senior D group.

Compiled by Jason Grodsky and Courtney Linehan