Misericordia's Willie Chandler was selected in the first round of the United States Basketball League draft, fifth overall, by the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs.

A D3hoops.com All-American, Chandler was named the Player of the Year in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference all four years of his career and ended his collegiate career as the second-highest scorer in D-III history with 2,898 points.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for Willie and I'm very excited for him," said Misericordia head coach Dave Martin. "He'll have a chance to play against some top-notch competition and create some other professional opportunities for himself."

Chandler led the PAC in scoring for the fourth year in a row and finished third in the nation with 26.3 points per game. He was a two-time finalist for the Jostens Trophy.

The ValleyDawgs are coached by former NBA player Darryl Dawkins. They open their 30-game schedule April 19 at the Westchester Wildfire. The Wildfire selected UW-Stevens Point forward Josh Iserloth with their eighth-round pick, 68th overall.

Chandler will graduate in May and is looking forward to the challenge of playing at a higher level of basketball. "This is an exciting day for me," said Chandler. "I've always dreamed of the chance to get paid to play basketball. I really enjoyed my collegiate career and I'm anxious to move on to the next step."

There were only two D-III players drafted, although the league rosters typically contain a handful of D-III players by season's end. Neil Edwards of York (N.Y.) and Dave Jannuzzi of Wilkes have played in the league in recent seasons.