University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn's Rudy Gay and Marcus Williams Named to
7/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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FRISCO, Texas (July 28, 2005) – University of Connecticut men's basketball players (Los Angeles, Calif.) and (Baltimore, Md.) have been named to the 2005 USA Men's Under 21 World Championship Team, it was announced by USA Basketball Thursday morning.
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. Included on the U.S. squad, which will compete in the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship Aug. 5-14 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, are three athletes who have played internationally for USA Basketball in the past, including 2004 U20 Tournament of the Americas gold medalists Justin Gray (Wake Forest / Charlotte, N.C.) and Curtis Withers (Charlotte / Charlotte, N.C.), as well as 2003 USA Junior World Championship Team member J.J. Redick (Duke / Roanoke, Va.).
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, Redick and Withers, 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.); Allan 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.
Acting as Martelli’s assistants are collegiate head coaches James ‘Bruiser’ Flint from Drexel University (Pa.) and Dennis Felton from the University of Georgia.
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 5th and 6th place finishing teams in each group will compete for 9th-12th place.
Initiated in 1993 as the FIBA 22 & Under World Championship, the USA captured gold in the inaugural tournament with a perfect 8-0 record. In 1997, the Americans compiled a 5-2 record and finished fifth. Most recently in 2001, with the event known as the FIBA World Championship For Young Men and Martelli assisting on the sidelines, the USA was impressive, rolling to an unblemished 8-0 mark to capture gold.
The USA men are not only defending FIBA World Champs at the U21 level, but the U.S. squad last summer dominated its FIBA Americas competition in striking gold with a 5-0 record. Overall, in the three previous FIBA World Championships for this age group, the USA has won gold twice and compiled a 22-2 record.
