May 15, 2003
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Featuring 26 players who earned collegiate all-conference honors in 2002-03 and 15 college freshmen who were named to their conference all-freshman teams, USA Basketball officially announced today that 52 of the top men's basketball players from the high school and college ranks have accepted invitations to participate in the 2003 USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials. The Trials will be held May 30-June 1 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The player selections were made by the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee which is chaired by Terry Holland, former University of Virginia athletics director.
Arizona State's Ike Diogu, who was the 2003 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, an Associated Press honorable mention All-American and the only freshman to receive All-Pac-10 honors, will be trying out for a spot on the Pan American Games squad. Diogu led ASU to a 20-12 overall mark and fourth place in the Pac-10 Conference with an 11-7 record. He was the only player ranked among the league's top five in scoring (19.0 ppg./third) and rebounding (7.8 rpg./fifth) and he averaged 19.9 points and 9.6 rebounds in the final 14 games. He was one of only three Pac-10 players to score in double digits in every game last season and earned Freshman All-American honors by both Basketball Times and Sporting News. Diogu is one of the 28 invitees who is over the age of 19 so he cannot compete at the Junior World Championship, as he will turn 20 this Sept. 11.
The USA Collegiate Committee will select finalists from the Trials for two USA Basketball teams -- 2003 USA Basketball Junior World Championship Team and 2003 USA Pan American Games Team. Of the 51 players, 28, because they are older than 19-years-old, will be eligible only for consideration for the Pan Am Games team, such as Diogu. The other 24 players will be eligible for either the Pan American Games or Junior World Championship Teams. To be eligible for the USA Junior World Championship squad a player must be 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1984).
Diogu is one of seven players from Texas among the invitees, the most by one state. The Texans invited are Diogu (Arizona State/Garland); Daniel Ewing (Duke/Missouri City); Daniel Gibson (Jesse H. Jones High School/Houston); Daniel Horton (Michigan/Cedar Hill); Emeka Okafor (Connecticut/Houston); Lawrence Roberts (Baylor/Houston) and Deron Williams (Illinois/The Colony).
Diogu also is one of six invitees from the Pacific-10 Conference, joining Josh Childress (Stanford), Desmon Farmer (USC), Channing Frye (Arizona), Ryan Hollins (UCLA) and Luke Jackson (Oregon).
The first Trials session will be held on Friday, May 30 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (All times are MDT), with two sessions, 9:30-11:30 a.m. and 4:30-6:30 p.m., scheduled for Saturday, May 31, and one final practice session to be conducted 8:30-10:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 1.
The Trials will be relied on to determine finalists for the 2003 USA Men's Pan American Games Team. The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics, will be held Aug. 1-17, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The men's basketball competition is slated for Aug. 2-6. The field of teams in men's basketball, which will include teams from eight nations, is not yet known. The United States will be directed by Michigan State University mentor Tom Izzo, and his assistants include college head coaches Lorenzo Romar of the University of Washington and Quin Snyder of the University of Missouri.
The 52 invitees accepting their invitation were: Mohamed Abukar (Rancho Bernardo / Escondido, Calif.); Maurice Ager (Michigan State / Detroit, Mich.); DeAngelo Alexander (Oklahoma / Midwest City, Okla.); James Augustine (Illinois / Mokena, Ill.); Kelenna Azubuike (Kentucky / Tulsa, Okla.); Kevin Bookout (Oklahoma / Stroud, Okla.); Timmy Bowers (Mississippi State / Gulfport, Miss.); Brandon Bowman (Georgetown / Santa Monica, Calif.); Daniel Brown (Illinois / Maywood, Ill.); Graham Brown (Michigan / Mio, Mich.); Derrick Byars (Virginia / Memphis, Tenn.); Josh Childress (Stanford / Los Angeles, Calif.); Keydren Clark (St. Peters / New York, N.Y.); Paul Davis (Michigan State / Rochester, Mich.); Ike Diogu (Arizona State / Garland, Texas); Chris Duhon (Duke / Slidell, La.); Daniel Ewing (Duke / Missouri City, Texas); Desmon Farmer (USC / Flint, Mich.); Gerald Fitch (Kentucky / Macon, Ga.); Torin Francis (Notre Dame / Roslindale, Mass.); Tim Frost (Utah / Klamath Falls, Ore.); Channing Frye (Arizona / Phoenix, Ariz.); Daniel Gibson (Jessie H. Jones High School / Houston, Texas); Ben Gordon (Connecticut / Mt. Vernon, N.Y.); Ivan Harris (Oak Hill Academy, Va. / Springfield, Ohio); David Harrison (Colorado / Nashville, Tenn.); Chris Hill (Michigan State / Indianapolis, Ind.); Julius Hodge (North Carolina State / New York, N.Y.); Ryan Hollins (UCLA / Pasadena, Calif.); Daniel Horton (Michigan / Cedar Hill, Texas); Luke Jackson (Oregon / Creswell, Ore.); Al Jefferson (Prentiss High School / Prentiss, Miss.); Arthur Johnson (Missouri / Detroit, Mich.); Brian Johnson (Bishop O,Connell High School, Va. / Glenarden, Md.); Gerry McNamara (Syracuse / Scranton, Pa.); Jonathan Modica (Arkansas / Smackover, Ark.); Brandon Mouton (Texas / Lafayette, La.); Matt Nelson (Colorado State / Chicago, Ill.); Steve Novak (Marquette / Brown Deer, Wis.); Emeka Okafor (Connecticut / Houston, Texas); Ricky Paulding (Missouri / Detroit, Mich.); Kevin Pittsnogle (West Virginia / Martinsburg, W.Va.); J.J. Redick (Duke / Roanoke, Va.); Lawrence Roberts (Baylor / Houston, Texas); Craig Smith (Boston College / Los Angeles, Calif.); Marcellus Sommerville (Southwestern Illinois College / Peoria, Ill.); Blake Stepp (Gonzaga / Eugene, Ore.); Alando Tucker (Wisconsin / Lockport, Ill.); C.J. Watson (Tennessee / Las Vegas, Nev.); Deron Williams (Illinois / The Colony, Texas); Shelden Williams (Duke / Forest Park, Okla.); and Kennedy Winston (Alabama / Prichard, Ala.).
The invitees break down to include 27 players who completed their freshman season of collegiate eligibility in 2002-03, nine who were sophomores in 2002-03, and 11 who were college juniors, while two are high school seniors (Abukar and Harris) and three high school juniors (Gibson, Jefferson and Brian Johnson) are also involved.
Six of the trials selectees earned All-American honors in 2003. Diogu, Gordon, Arthur Johnson, Okafor and Stepp earned NCAA All-American honors, while Sommerville captured National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American first team honors.
The Trials roster lists involvement of players from 35 different colleges and five high schools, and includes players from 23 different states.
The USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee, in addition to chair Holland, consists of: NCAA appointees Jim Boeheim (head coach, Syracuse University, N.Y.); Rob Evans (head coach, Arizona State University); Jim O'Brien (head coach, Ohio State University) and Tubby Smith (head coach, University of Kentucky); NABC appointee Oliver Purnell (head coach, Clemson University, S.C.); NAIA appointee Ralph Turner (head coach, Union University, Tenn.); NJCAA appointee Dan Sparks (head coach, Vincennes University, Ind.), and athlete representatives Steve Wojciechowski (1995 Junior World Championship team / assistant coach, Duke University, N.C.) and A.J. Wynder (1995 Pan American Games team / head coach, Nassau Community College, N.Y.).
2003 USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials ScheduleFriday, May 30 Session #1 4:00-7:00 p.m. U.S. Olympic Training Center, Sports Center II , Colorado Springs, Colorado
Saturday, May 31 Session #2 9:30-11:30 a.m. U.S. Olympic Training Center, Sports Center II , Colorado Springs, Colorado Session #3 5:30-7:30 p.m. U.S. Olympic Training Center, Sports Center II , Colorado Springs, Colorado
Sunday, June 1 Session #4 8:30-10:00 a.m. U.S. Olympic Training Center, Sports Center II , Colorado Springs, Colorado
Note: All Trials session times are MDT
2003 USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials Roster
NAME POS HGT WGT DOB YOG HIGH SCHOOL / AAU TEAM / HOMETOWN Mohamed Abukar F 6-9 200 01/01/85 2003 Rancho Bernardo High School / Escondido, CA Maurice Ager G 6-4 187 02/09/84 2006 Michigan State / Detroit, MI DeAngelo Alexander F 6-5 215 01/21/84 2006 Oklahoma / Midwest City, OK James Augustine F/C 6-10 225 02/27/84 2006 Illinois / Mokena, IL *Kelenna Azubuike G/F 6-5 208 12/16/83 2006 Kentucky / Tulsa, OK *Kevin Bookout F 6-8 260 03/16/83 2006 Oklahoma / Stroud, OK *Timmy Bowers G 6-2 180 01/09/82 2004 Mississippi State / Gulfport, MS Brandon Bowman F 6-8 210 101/5/84 2006 Georgetown / Santa Monica, CA Daniel Brown G 6-1 175 08/17/84 2006 Illinois / Maywood, IL Graham Brown C 6-9 250 08/19/84 2006 Michigan / Mio, MI Derrick Byars F 6-7 207 04/25/84 2006 Virginia / Memphis, TN *Josh Childress F 6-7 198 06/20/83 2005 Stanford / Los Angeles, CA Keydren Clark G 5-8 165 10/08/84 2006 St. Peters / New York, NY Paul Davis F 6-11 245 07/21/84 2006 Michigan State / Rochester, MI *Ike Diogu F 6-8 250 09/11/83 2006 Arizona State / Garland, TX *Chris Duhon G 6-1 190 08/31/82 2004 Duke / Slidell, LA *Daniel Ewing G 6-3 170 03/26/83 2005 Duke / Missouri City, TX *Desmon Farmer G 6-4 225 10/07/81 2004 USC / Flint, MI *Gerald Fitch G 6-3 188 08/12/82 2004 Kentucky / Macon, GA *Torin Francis F/C 6-10 245 06/06/83 2006 Notre Dame / Roslindale, MA *Tim Frost F 6-10 235 12/25/80 2004 Utah / Klamath Falls, OR *Channing Frye F/C 6-11 240 05/17/83 2005 Arizona / Phoenix, AZ Daniel Gibson G 6-2 188 02/27/86 2004 Jesse H. Jones High School / ~Texas / Houston, TX *Ben Gordon G 6-2 195 04/04/83 2005 Connecticut / Mt. Vernon, NY Ivan Harris F 6-8 220 03/17/84 2003 Oak Hill Academy (VA) / #Ohio State / Springfield, OH *David Harrison C 7-0 250 08/15/82 2005 Colorado / Nashville, TN *Chris Hill G 6-3 190 02/21/83 2005 Michigan State / Indianapolis, IN *Julius Hodge F 6-7 200 11/18/83 2005 North Carolina State / New York, NY Ryan Hollins C 6-11 215 10/10/84 2006 UCLA / Pasadena, CA Daniel Horton G 6-3 197 04/21/84 2006 Michigan / Cedar Hill, TX *Luke Jackson G 6-7 210 11/06/81 2004 Oregon / Creswell, OR Al Jefferson F 6-10 265 01/04/85 2004 Prentiss High School / Prentiss, MS *Arthur Johnson F 6-9 265 12/20/82 2004 Missouri / Detroit, MI Brian Johnson F 6-9 230 08/16/86 2004 Bishop O,Connell High School (VA) / Glenarden, MD *Gerry McNamara G 6-2 172 11/28/83 2006 Syracuse / Scranton, PA Jonathan Modica F 6-4 198 09/26/84 2006 Arkansas / Smackover, AK *Brandon Mouton G 6-4 205 08/18/81 2004 Texas / Lafayette, LA *Matt Nelson C 7-0 250 07/30/82 2004 Colorado State / Chicago, IL Steve Novak F 6-10 215 06/13/83 2006 Marquette / Brown Deer, WI *Emeka Okafor C 6-9 252 09/28/82 2005 Connecticut / Houston, TX *Ricky Paulding G 6-5 212 10/23/82 2004 Missouri / Detroit, MI Kevin Pittsnogle F/C 6-10 225 07/30/84 2006 West Virginia / Martinsburg, WV J.J. Redick G 6-4 200 06/24/84 2006 Duke / Roanoke, VA *Lawrence Roberts F 6-9 230 10/20/82 2005 Baylor / Houston, TX *Craig Smith F 6-7 260 11/10/83 2006 Boston College / Los Angeles, CA *Marcellus Sommerville F 6-7 225 02/21/82 2006 Southwestern Illinois College / #Bradley / Peoria, IL *Blake Stepp G 6-4 200 02/04/82 2004 Gonzaga / Eugene, OR Alando Tucker F 6-5 195 02/11/84 2006 Wisconsin / Lockport, IL C.J. Watson G 6-2 160 04/17/84 2006 Tennessee / Las Vegas, NV Deron Williams G 6-3 205 06/26/84 2006 Illinois / The Colony, TX *Shelden Williams F 6-9 255 10/21/83 2006 Duke / Forest Park, OK Kennedy Winston F 6-7 207 07/29/84 2006 Alabama / Prichard, AL
* Because of his age, player is only eligible for the USA Pan American Games Team # Has signed national letter of intent with school indicated ~ Has made a verbal commitment to the school indicated