ALLAN THE MAN

Asia’s No. 1 point guard Jayson Castro said yesterday he was never approached by a supposed NBA scout for the New York Knicks evaluating players at the recent FIBA-Asia Championships here but if there’s a chance to try out, why not? Castro’s agent Danny Espiritu confirmed the scout’s presence although he, too, was not approached.

“I wasn’t introduced to him,” said Espiritu. “I told Jayson for sure, he’ll be approached during the FIBA World Cup in Spain.”

COLORADO SPRINGS – New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, whose rise from obscurity to NBA stardom captured the world’s attention, was among 13 young players named on Monday to the USA Select team.

NBA 2012 Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving of Cleveland was also among those selected by USA Basketball for the squad that will serve as training opponents for the US Olympic team of NBA stars that will compete in the London Olympics.

The Selects will play training games against the American squad at the Olympic training camp July 6-12 at Las Vegas, Nevada.

But in addition to producing top efforts from this year’s collection of NBA Olympians, Lin and his teammates are taking their first steps toward the 2014 US world title defense and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“The Select team has an excellent collection of talent,” said USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo.

“The group has outstanding speed and versatility, some excellent shooters and some very good size.

“It will be great to have them involved in USA Basketball and in the national team pipeline for our next quadrennium.”

Lin, an Asian-American whose parents are from Taiwan, had been cut by two NBA clubs and was on the Knicks’ bench when injuries to two starters forced the former Harvard University player into the lineup.