July 28, 2005
FRISCO, Texas (July 28, 2005) - After training in the Dallas area since July 21, the final 12-member 2005 USA Men's U21 World Championship Team was announced by USA Basketball on Thursday morning. Villanova senior guard Allan Ray is among the 12 collegians included on the U.S. squad, which will compete in the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship Aug. 5-14 in Mar del Plata, Argentina,.
The U.S. squad, which is competing in the 2005 Global Games at the Dr. Pepper Star Center in Frisco, Texas, will remain in the Dallas area through Aug. 1 prior to departing for Argentina. Opening Global Games competition Wednesday with a 119-64 victory over Ukraine, the USA continues with an 8:00 p.m. (CDT) game against Slovenia tonight and faces Lithuania at 8:00 p.m. (CDT) on July 29. The gold medal will be contested at 8:00 p.m. (CDT) on July 30.
"I'm really amazed at the humility of the group and the class that they bring," said USA and Saint Joseph's University (Pa.) head coach Phil Martelli, who was an assistant coach on the 2001 USA U21 World Championship Team that claimed the gold medal in Japan. "They've been well schooled by their college coaches, and I think they've all been raised properly because they all talk about being very appreciative of the opportunity of being able to represent their country, to represent their schools, their programs and their families. I think those are good values and it's a good core to have to start with on any team.
"As a college coach, you don't normally have to deal with this. But the players who were let go gave us everything they had. There's nobody being let go who wasn't a good player or didn't handle themselves properly. They let their play do the talking. This was a lot of hours. You don't expect to have sleepless nights in July as a college coach, but I've had two on this trip. Both times were as we were approaching the cut-down. I never want to be in a position to take away somebody's dream or their aspirations. It was not easy, these were not easy choices that we had to make."
In addition to Justin Gray (Wake Forest), J.J. Redick (Duke) and Curtis Withers (Charlotte), named to the 2005 USA U21 National Team were: Mardy Collins (Temple / Philadelphia, Pa.); Glen Davis (Louisiana State / Baton Rouge, La.); Nick Fazekas (Nevada / Arvada, Colo.); Rudy Gay (Connecticut / Baltimore, Md.); Taj Gray (Oklahoma / Wichita, Kan.); Ray (Villanova / Bronx, N.Y.); Terrence Roberts (Syracuse / Jersey City, N.J.); Rajon Rondo (Kentucky / Louisville, Ky.) and Marcus Williams (Connecticut / Los Angeles, Calif.).
"I'm really anxious because when we first got together we told them the goal was to win the gold medal," added Martelli. "The gold medal is not attainable on the first day. Seven, eight or nine days in, that doesn't change. The gold medal is not attainable unless we maximize every day along the path to the gold medal. I like our chances with this group though."
Following two more days of practices, July 31 and Aug. 1 (sites and times TBD), the American team will travel to Mar del Plata, Argentina, for its final practices before tipping off play at the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship against China on Aug. 5 at 3:30 p.m. (all U21 World Championship times EDT). The United States will then go up against Lithuania on Aug. 6 at 2:30 p.m. and Puerto Rico on Aug. 7 at 6:30 p.m. Following a day off, the USA is slated to face Nigeria on Aug. 9 at 3:00 p.m. and will close out preliminary round play on Aug. 10 with a 12:45 p.m. contest against Slovenia. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be played Aug. 12-14.
