Brown to Play in All-Star Contest; Friar Star DiGregario Not Invited

Harvard's 6 ft. 6 in. senior forward James Brown will play in a New England All-Star basketball game next Tuesday which will pit the top university division players of the six states against the standouts of the college division. Proceeds of the game will go to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Ill.

Brown, who averaged 14.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game for Harvard last season and is the second-leading all-time Crimson scorer, was the only Harvard performer to be invited to play on the 15-member university division squad.

However, Brown's presence notwithstanding, the biggest distinction of the university division team is the absence of the Providence All-American guard Ernie DiGregorio.

No Invitation

In fact, the 5 ft. 11 in. backcourt wizard, who was just named the top senior college basketball player in the country, was not even invited to participate. "I didn't hear anything about the Hall of Fame game," DiGregario said yesterday after leaving the Hall of Fame luncheon in Springfield where he received the Joe Lapchick trophy as the nation's top senior basketball player.

The university division team was selected by a committee of coaches headed by University of New Hampshire coach Jerry Friel.

Spokesmen for the tournament were unavailable yesterday to explain why DiGregorio was snubbed.

While DiGregorio was upset at being bypassed for the game, in the past he has not kept it a secret that he dislikes the idea of participation in all-star games with players from other colleges. He has often been quoted as saying that he doesn't like playing for all-star squads because "I just don't enjoy myself. I don't like playing with a group of strangers."

Brown was one of two Ivy League players to be selected for the university division team. The other was the "other" James Brown, the 6 ft. 2 in. Dartmouth guard.