Twenty-Four Players Accept Invites to Try Out for Sampson's USA Squad

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Eighteen players with previous USA Basketball experience, including 2003 USA Basketball Junior World Championship Team members Maurice Ager (Michigan State), Daniel "Dee" Brown (Illinois), Ryan Hollins (UCLA), J.J. Redick (Duke), Mustafa Shakur (Arizona), C.J. Watson (Tennessee) and Deron Williams (Illinois), are among the 24 athletes who will vie for positions on the 2004 USA Basketball World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team that will be coached by OU's Kelvin Sampson, USA Basketball announced Thursday.

Chaired by former University of Virginia Athletic Director Terry Holland, the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee selected the invitees and will make the final roster cuts at the 2004 USA National Team Trials and training camp July 16-23 in East Rutherford, N.J.

In addition to Ager, Dee Brown, Hollins, Redick, Shakur, Watson and Deron Williams, the 24 players who have accepted invitations to the 2004 USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials are Hassan Adams (Arizona), Sean Banks (Memphis), Josh Boone (Connecticut), Aaron Brooks (Oregon), Shannon Brown (Michigan State), Justin Gray (Wake Forest), Sean May (North Carolina), Rashad McCants (North Carolina), Demetris Nichols (Syracuse), David Padgett (TBD), Chris Paul (Wake Forest), Curtis Sumpter (Villanova), P.J. Tucker (Texas), Charlie Villaneuva (Connecticut), Eric Williams (Wake Forest), Curtis Withers (UNC Charlotte) and Bracey Wright (Indiana).

Seven return from the 2003 USA Men's Junior World Championship Team that journeyed to Thessaloniki, Greece, and finished fifth with a 7-1 record, a mark that tied gold medalist Australia for the best record in the tournament. The USA squad also went 5-0 to win gold at the 2003 Global Games in Dallas, Texas. Dee Brown led the team at the Junior Worlds in scoring, averaging 17.3 ppg and added 4.1 apg, while Illini teammate Deron Williams contributed 8.4 ppg and handed out a team-best 4.8 apg. Hollins accounted for 7.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 1.1 bpg, Ager added 6.0 ppg and 3.0 rpg, Watson was credited with 6.0 ppg and 2.0 apg., Shakur posted averages of 5.0 ppg and 2.8 apg, while Redick was injured and limited to action in just two games.

Supplying additional USA Basketball experience is Brooks, Dee Brown, Padgett and Deron Williams who helped the U.S. qualify for the 2003 FIBA Junior World Championship after finishing with a 4-1 record and the bronze medal at the 2002 FIBA Americas Junior World Championship Qualifier in Venezuela.

A four-time USA Basketball team member, Redick, as well as McCants, competed in a pair of USA Basketball Youth Development Festivals. The duo head a list of 12 who got their USA Basketball start at the Festival, including Adams, Banks, Shannon Brown, Gray, May, Nichols, Padgett, Paul, Deron Williams and Wright.

A total of five 2004 All-Americans further underscore the strength of the USA team candidates. May was an ESPN.com All-America third-team selection and Associated Press honorable mention All-America pick; McCants was listed as a second-team All-American by Basketball Times and third team by the AP; Redick was named a third-team All-America honoree by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and, along with Paul, was an AP honorable mention All-America pick following the 2003-04 season. The fifth All-American listed among the USA National Team Trials roster is Withers, a Basketball Times third-team All-America selection who will experience his first taste of USA Basketball in July.

Joining Sampson on the U.S. sideline as assistants will be Marquette head coach Tom Crean and Minnesota head coach Dan Monson.

Finalists for the USA Team will be selected following trials July 16-18 at the New Jersey Nets practice facility in East Rutherford. The USA Trials schedule will see the candidates competing twice a day. Finalists will remain in New Jersey for the team's training camp, which will again feature two-a-days. The eventual 12-member squad will be finalized sometime prior to the USA's final New Jersey practice at on July 23.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Twenty-Four Players Accept Invites to Try Out for Sampson's USA Squad

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