Mike Conley Jr., Lottery Pick in Next Week's NBA Draft, Launches Blog at Yardbarker.com

Mike Conley, Jr., former Ohio State point guard and one of the NBA's top prospects, has launched his personal blog in order to communicate directly with a growing fan base. Conley Jr. becomes the latest player to join the Yardbarker Star Athlete Network. Others include Greg Oden, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ace pitcher John Lackey and San Diego Chargers defensive back Cletis Gordon.

Emeryville, CA (PRWEB) June 21, 2007 -- Michael Conley Jr., who in just one season at Ohio State established himself as the top point guard in the country and certain lottery pick in next week's NBA draft, has launched his personal blog at Yardbarker.com, the premier destination for unfiltered sports commentary by fans and bloggers, it was announced today.

Conley will share his experiences leading up to draft day as well as his transition into the NBA. He has already described workouts and visits to Chicago, Memphis and Milwaukee as he tours many of the NBA cities.

"I love the idea of talking straight to the fans and having a blog allows me to do that," Conley said. "I am experiencing things now that I always dreamed about growing up. The fans can share the experience with me through my blog. I look forward to that interaction."

As a freshman at Ohio State, Conley proved to be an outstanding leader and decision maker, finishing third in scoring and first in assists and steals. The 6-1 guard averaged 11.3 points, 6.1 assists and 2.2 steals per game while leading the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title and national championship appearance against Florida. He averaged 16 points per game during the NCAA Tournament.

"Michael Conley Jr. is a leader among his generation of athletes, both on and off the court. His decision to blog on Yardbarker is just the latest example of that," Yardbarker Co-Founder Pete Vlastelica said. "Michael recoginzes that the future of sports media is about direct connections between athletes and fans, and he is paving the way for his peers with his blog."

About Yardbarker Inc.

Yardbarker is a sports web site that allows fans, not editors, to post, rate and discuss the best sports content available daily on the web. Yardbarker's sports bloggers are blazing the trail for a new kind of sports journalism: witty, interactive, multimedia, refreshingly biased, and generally able to talk about sports in the language that sports fans find most engaging.

Contacts:

Kirk Reynolds

Yardbarker

408-592-4955

Chris Talbott

BDA Sports Management

310-573-7380

###