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New to list are University of Oklahoma
6-5 forward guard DeAngelo Alexander, Midwest City, Okla.;
University of Michigan 6-9 freshman center Graham Brown, Mio, Mich.;
6-10 high school junior David Burgess, Woodbridge H.S., Irvine,
Calif.; University of Oregon 6-10 signee Mitch Platt, Green Valley
H.S., Henderson, Nev.; and prep all-American guard and University of
Arizona 6-3 signee Mustafa Shakur, Philadelphia Friends Central H.S.,
Wynnewood, Pa.
Current finalists are Mohamed Abukar,
Rancho Bernardo H.S., Escondido, Calif.; Maurice Ager, Michigan
State, Detroit, Mich.; Alexander; Brandon Bowman, Georgetown, Santa
Monica, Calif.; Daniel Brown, Illinois, Maywood, Ill.; Graham
Brown; Burgess; Paul Davis, Michigan State, Rochester, Mich.; Ryan
Hollins, UCLA, Pasadena, Calif.; Daniel Horton, Michigan, Cedar
Hill, Texas; Brian Johnson, Bishop O'Connell H.S., Va., Glenarden,
Md.; Jonathan Modica, Arkansas, Smackover, Ark.; Kevin Pittsnogle,
West Virginia, Martinsburg, W.Va.; Platt; J.J. Redick, Duke,
Roanoke, Va.; Shakur; C.J. Watson, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Nev.; and
Deron Williams, Illinois, The Colony, Texas.
Johnson's participation is contingent
on him being medically cleared to compete in the June 24 training
camp. He suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left
knee early in the first team trials session on Friday, May 30.
Finalists
from the University of Illinois
(Name,
position, height, weight, date of birth, year of graduation, college
or high school, hometown)
- Daniel Brown, G, 61, 175,
8-17-84, 2006, Illinois, Maywood, Ill.
-
Deron
Williams, G, 63, 205, 6-26-84, 2006, Illinois, The Colony, Texas
Eligibility for the U.S. team is
limited to any male athlete who is a U.S. citizen and 19 years old
or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1984). The finalists were
selected by the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee.
The official 12-member USA junior team
will be finalized during the June 24-July 6 training camp in Dallas.
In preparation for the FIBA Junior World Championship Tournament,
the U.S. squad will participate in the 2003 Global Games, which are
being conducted in Dallas. Ten teams are featured in the Global
Games, and the U.S. team will play in five games between June 30 and
July 5.
The junior squad will then compete July
10-20 in the FIBA tournament, which was recently moved from Malaysia
to Thessaloniki, Greece. The tournament features 16 junior national
teams that qualified last summer, with the teams placed into four
groups of four for preliminary round-robin play. The top two teams
from each group will advance to the medal quarterfinals, while the
remainder of the field will compete for ninth to 16th place. The
U.S. team has been placed in Group C, joining China, Nigeria and
Slovenia.
University of Oregon's successful head
coach Ernie Kent, who served as head coach of the U.S. junior
qualifying team last summer, will again be head mentor of the squad.
He will be assisted by Dennis Felton of the University of Georgia
and Ray Harper of Kentucky Wesleyan College.
Following the May 30-June 1 team
trials, head coach Kent said: "There may not be a quote, unquote
‘big name' star like we had last year with Carmelo Anthony (who was
a member of the 2002 USA Junior World Championship qualifying team),
but what we have is a team that is really going to play hard -- play
hard and focus together. And certainly one that is athletic. It
seems that they have a tremendous focus on wanting to be successful
in this tournament, and that is a real big positive for us."
Of the 18 finalists, 10 have
participated in previous USA Basketball competitions. Five were
members of last summer's qualifying team, which finished 4-1, earned
the bronze medal and qualified the United States for the this year's
tournament. Members of the last year's junior qualifying team vying
for roster positions this year are Abukar, Daniel Brown, Horton,
Johnson and Williams. Also possessing prior USA Basketball
experience are Alexander, who participated in the 2002 USA national
team trials and the 2001 Youth Development Festival; Davis, 2001 USA
Basketball Youth Development Festival; Modica, 2001 USA Basketball
Youth Development Festival; Redick, 2001 and 2002 USA Basketball
Youth Development Festivals; and Shakur, 2002 junior national team
trials.
"I think that's going to be huge,"
commented Kent about the five returning members from last year's
junior qualifying team, "particularly if all five make the team once
we head out of Dallas. They're going to be able to not only handle
the environment over there better, having played in international
competition, but more importantly, they're going to be able to
educate the other players on what to expect and how to handle the
international environment."
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Six of the U.S. team hopefuls -- Daniel
Brown, Horton, Modica, Pittsnogle, Redick and Watson -- claimed
all-freshman team honors in their respective conferences. Five of
the finalists -- Abukar, Burgess, Johnson, Platt and Shakur --
competed at the high school level in 2002-03, with Burgess and
Johnson having completed their junior year in 2003.
USA in
FIBA Junior Worlds
This summer's FIBA tournament for men
age 19 and younger is the seventh in a series played every four
years since 1979. The United States has had great success at the
championships, collecting a record five medals in six tries,
including three golds and two silver medals, while owning a 38-9
overall record (.809). Led by then-University of Florida head coach
Lon Kruger, the 1991 U.S. team captured the gold with an unblemished
8-0 record, marking the last time the United States claimed gold. At
the most recent championships, a U.S. squad coached by Arizona
State's Rob Evans went 7-0 before being bested by Spain 94-87 in the
gold medal game.
USA
Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee
The USA Basketball Men's Collegiate
Committee is chaired by Terry Holland, former University of Virginia
director of athletics, and consists of: NCAA appointees Jim Boeheim,
head coach, Syracuse University, N.Y.; Evans Jim O'Brien, head
coach, Ohio State University; and Tubby Smith, head coach,
University of Kentucky; NABC appointee Oliver Purnell, head coach,
Clemson University; NAIA appointee Ralph Turner, head coach, Union
University, Tenn.; NJCAA appointee Dan Sparks, head coach, Vincennes
University, Ind.; and athlete representatives Steve Wojciechowski,
from the 1995 USA Junior World Championship Team and assistant coach
at Duke University, N.C., and A.J. Wynder, from the 1995 USA Pan
American Games Team and head coach at Nassau Community College, N.Y.
Coaching
staff
Head coach: Ernie Kent, University of
Oregon
Assistant coach: Dennis Felton,
University of Georgia
Assistant coach: Ray Harper, Kentucky
Wesleyan College
Athletic trainer: Clay Jamieson,
University of Oregon
Schedule
June 24-29 -- Training Camp at Dallas
Mavericks' practice facility, American Airlines Center, Dallas,
Texas
June 24 – Training, 3-5 p.m.
June 25-29 -- Training, 10 a.m.-noon
and 5-7 p.m.
June 30 -- Training, time to be
determined
June 30-July 5 -- Global Games at
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
June 30 -- USA vs. Lithuania, Southern
Methodist University, Moody Coliseum, 8 p.m.
July 1 -- USA vs. Texas, Southern
Methodist University, Moody Coliseum, 8 p.m.
July 2 -- USA vs. Africa, Southern
Methodist University, Moody Coliseum, 8 p.m.
July 3 -- USA vs. Canada, Southern
Methodist University, Moody Coliseum, 8 p.m.
July 5 – Finals, USA vs. team to be
determined, at Southern Methodist University, Moody Coliseum
Note: All times for training and Global
Games in Dallas are given in Central Daylight Time. Training times
are subject to change or cancellation; please verify with USA
Basketball if you plan to attend.
July 7-9 -- Training in Thessaloniki,
Greece
July 10-20 -- FIBA Junior World
Championship, Thessaloniki, Greece
July 24-26 -- Preliminary round
July 10 -- USA vs. Slovenia at AOK
Sports Arena, 7 p.m.
July 11 -- USA vs. China at PAOK Sports
Arena, 7 p.m.
July 12 -- USA vs. Nigeria at PAOK
Sports Arena, 4:45 p.m.
July 14-16 -- Second round
July 19 -- Semifinals
July 20 -- Finals
Note: FIBA Junior World Championship
game times are Greece local time, which is seven hours ahead of
Eastern Daylight Time.
[Caroline Williams, assistant
director of communications,
USA Basketball]
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