June 20, 2005
Three Big 12 men's basketball players - C.J. Giles (Kansas), Taj Gray (Oklahoma) and JamesOn Curry (Oklahoma State) have been extended invitations to try out for the 2005 USA Basketball Men's U21 National Team that will attempt to defend the gold at the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship in Argentina, August 5-14. Last summer, Oklahoma men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson directed the USA U21 World Championship Qualifying Team to a 5-0 record and the gold medal. The three players and 18 others will participate in the trials July 21-23 in Dallas, Texas.
Joining the trio will be Josh Boone (Connecticut), Aaron Brooks (Oregon), Shannon Brown (Michigan State), Rodney Carney (Memphis), Glen Davis (LSU), Jared Dudley (Boston College), Nick Fazekas (Nevada), Rudy Gay (Connecticut), Justin Gray (Wake Forest), Malik Hairston (Oregon), Adam Morrison (Gonzaga), Allan Ray (Villanova), J.J. Redick (Duke), Terrence Roberts (Syracuse), Rajon Rondo (Kentucky), Darius Washington, Jr. (Memphis), Marcus Williams (Connecticut) and Curtis Withers (Charlotte).
Saint Joseph's University (Pa.) head coach Phil Martelli has been named as the USA team's head coach. Acting as his assistants will be collegiate head coaches Bruiser Flint from Drexel University (Pa.) and Dennis Felton from the University of Georgia.
Trials will be conducted at the Dallas Mavericks practice facility inside the American Airlines Center and the first session will be held on Thursday, July 21 at 10 a.m. (all times local), followed by a 5 p.m. session that night. July 22 and 23 will again feature two-a-days with starting times at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Team finalists will remain in Dallas for the USA's July 24 - Aug. 1 training camp. The camp will conclude with a pair of daily practices at the Mavericks practice facility at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on July 25 and July 26. The U.S. squad will then compete in the July 27-31 Global Games at the Dr Pepper Star Center in Frisco, Texas. The eventual 12-member USA team will be announced during the training camp.
Following one more practice session on Aug. 1 (site and time TBD), the American team will travel to Argentina for its final practices before tipping off play at the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship on Aug. 5.
Contested Aug. 5-14 in Cordoba and Mar del Plata, Argentina, the 2005 FIBA Men's U21 World Championship will consist of 12 national teams split into two groups for preliminary round-robin play. The top four teams in each group will advance to the medal quarterfinals, while the fifth and sixth place finishing teams in each group will compete for ninth-12th place.