2003 USA Junior Team Includes Illini’s Daniel Brown And Deron Williams From Last Summer’s Junior World Championship Qualifying Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 3, 2003) -- Following eights days of training and a pair of games in the Global Games, the 12-player USA Basketball Junior World Championship Team roster was finalized Wednesday and features 10 players boasting of prior collegiate experience and a pair of players who represented the United States last summer at the Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Venezuela.

Named as members of the 2003 USA Junior World Championship Team were Maurice Ager (Michigan State / Detroit, Mich.); De'Angelo Alexander (Oklahoma / Midwest City, Okla.); Daniel Brown (Illinois / Maywood, Ill.); Graham Brown (Michigan / Mio, Mich.); David Burgess (Woodbridge High School / Irvine, Calif.); Paul Davis (Michigan State / Rochester, Mich.); Ryan Hollins (UCLA / Pasadena, Calif.); Kevin Pittsnogle (West Virginia / Martinsburg, W.Va.); J.J. Redick (Duke / Roanoke, Va.); Mustafa Shakur (Philadelphia Friends Central / Wynnewood, Pa.); C.J. Watson (Tennessee / Las Vegas, Nev.) and Deron Williams (Illinois / The Colony, Texas).

Ernie Kent, University of Oregon's successful head coach who also served as head coach of the USA junior qualifying team last summer, is again head mentor of the 2003 USA junior squad. He is being assisted by Dennis Felton of the University of Georgia and Ray Harper of Kentucky Wesleyan College.

The official 12-member USA junior team will continue its training in Dallas, Texas, through July 5. As part of its training for the FIBA Junior World Championship, the U.S. is currently 2-0 and taking part in the Global Games that are being conducted in Dallas. Featuring 10 teams, the USA will play five games between June 30-July 5. The USA opened the Global Games on June 30 and recorded a 79-63 win over Lithuania, defeated the Global Games Select Team 97-77 on July 1, and will face Africa on July 2 (8 p.m. CDT) and Canada on July 3 (8 p.m. CDT). Following an off day on July 4, the finals of the Global Games will be held July 5. All Global Games competition is being played at Moody Coliseum at Southern Methodist University.

The USA Junior squad will compete July 10-20 in the 2003 FIBA Men's Junior World Championship that was recently moved from Malaysia to Thessaloniki, Greece. Featuring 16 junior national teams that qualified last summer, the teams have been placed into four groups of four for preliminary round robin play. The top two teams from each group will advance to the medal second round, while the remainder of the field will compete for 9th - 16th place. The USA has been placed in Group C, joining China, Nigeria and Slovenia. The USA will open play against Slovenia on July 10, and face China on July 11 and Nigeria on July 12. Second round action is being played July 14-16, while the world championship semifinals slated to be held July 19 and the finals will be played July 20.

Eligibility for the 2003 USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship 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 USA team finalists were selected by the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee.

The USA squad features six members who have participated in previous USA Basketball competitions, including the starting backcourt of last summer's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team that finished 4-1, earned the bronze medal and qualified the United States for the 2003 FIBA Junior World Championship. Members of the 2002 junior qualifying team are University of Illinois starting guards Daniel Brown and Williams. Also possessing prior USA Basketball experience are Alexander (2002 USA Junior National Team Trials, 2001 Youth Development Festival), Davis (2001 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival), Redick (2001 and 2001 USA Basketball Youth Development Festivals) and Shakur (2002 USA Basketball Junior National Team Trials).

Four of the USA players, Daniel Brown, Pittsnogle, Redick and Watson, claimed all-freshman team honors in their respective conference, while two U.S. team members, Burgess and Shakur ,competed at the high school level in 2002-03, with Burgess having completed just his junior year in ‘03.

Of the 12 players selected to represent the United States in Greece, five, Ager (Michigan State), Daniel Brown (Illinois), Graham Brown (Michigan), Davis (Michigan State) and Williams (Illinois) hail from the Big 10 Conference, and the 12 include two sets of players from the same college - Ager and Davis from Michigan State and Brown and Williams from Illinois.

USA In FIBA Junior World Championships

Held every four years for men age 19-years-old and younger since 1979, this summer marks the seventh FIBA Men's Junior World Championship. The United States has had great success at the junior worlds, 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 USA Junior World Championship Team captured the gold with an unblemished 8-0 record, marking the last time the U.S. claimed gold. At the most recent Junior Worlds, 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 former University of Virginia Director of Athletics, Terry Holland, 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 (1995 USA Junior World Championship Team and assistant coach at Duke University, N.C.) and A.J. Wynder (1995 USA Pan American Games Team and head coach at Nassau Community College, N.Y.).

NAME POS HGT WGT DOB YOG COLLEGE or HIGH SCHOOL/HOMETOWN
Maurice Ager G 6-4 187 2/09/84 2006 Michigan State / Detroit, MI
De’Angelo Alexander F 6-5 215 1/21/84 2006 Oklahoma / Midwest City, OK
Daniel Brown G 6-1 175 8/17/84 2006 Illinois / Maywood, IL
Graham Brown C 6-9 250 8/19/84 2006 Michigan / Mio, MI
David Burgess F 6-10 255 2/14/86 2004 Woodbridge High School / Irvine, CA
Paul Davis F 6-11 245 7/21/84 2006 Michigan State / Rochester, MI
Ryan Hollins C 6-11 215 10/10/84 2006 UCLA / Pasadena, CA
Kevin Pittsnogle F/C 6-10 225 7/30/84 2006 West Virginia / Martinsburg, WV
J.J. Redick G 6-4 200 6/24/84 2006 Duke / Roanoke, VA
Mustafa Shakur G 6-3 175 8/18/84 2003 Friends Central / #Arizona / Wynnewood, PA
C.J. Watson G 6-2 160 4/17/84 2006 Tennessee / Las Vegas, NV
Deron Williams G 6-3 205 6/26/84 2006 Illinois / The Colony, TX

Head Coach: Ernie Kent, University of Oregon
Assistant Coach: Dennis Felton, University of Georgia
Assistant Coach: Ray Harper, Kentucky Wesleyan College
Team Physician: Herb Parris, Lakewood, Colorado
Athletic Trainer: Clay Jamieson, University of Oregon