Kansas' C.J. Giles Invited to Vie for 2005 U21 National Team
June 20, 2005
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –
Kansas sophomore center C.J. Giles has accepted an invitation to attend the July 21-23 USA Basketball Men’s U21 National Team Trials in Dallas, Texas, USA Basketball released Monday.
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Trials will be used to select the final 12-member U21 squad that will look to defend the USA’s gold medal at the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship in Mar de Plata, Argentina, Aug. 5-14. Athlete selections were made by the USA Basketball Men’s Collegiate Committee, chaired by Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim.
Headlining the 21 invitees is 2005 consensus All-American J.J. Redick (Dule / Roanoke, Va.). Joining Giles and Redick, athletes expected to compete for spots on the 2005 USA U21 National Team include: Josh Boone (Connecticut / Mt. Airy, Md.); Aaron Brooks (Oregon / Seattle, Wash.); Shannon Brown (Michigan State / Maywood, Ill.); Rodney Carney (Memphis / Indianapolis, Ind.); JamesOn Curry (Oklahoma State / Pleasant Grove, N.C.); Glen Davis (Louisiana State / Baton Rouge, La.); Jared Dudley (Boston College / San Diego, Calif.); Nick Fazekas (Nevada / Arvada, Colo.); Rudy Gay (Connecticut / Baltimore, Md.); Justin Gray (Wake Forest / Charlotte, N.C.); Taj Gray (Oklahoma / Wichita, Kan.); Malik Hairston (Oregon / Detroit, Mich.); Adam Morrison (Gonzaga / Spokane, Wash.); Allan Ray (Villanova / Bronx, N.Y.); Terrence Roberts (Syracuse / Jersey City, N.J.); Rajon Rondo (Kentucky / Louisville, Ky.); Darius Washington, Jr. (Memphis / Winter Park, Fla.); Marcus Williams (Connecticut / Los Angeles, Calif.); and Curtis Withers (Charlotte / Charlotte, N.C.).
Giles (6-10, 220) started five of 21 games played for co-Big 12 Conference champion Kansas (23-7, 12-4 Big 12) last season. The Seattle, Wash., center averaged 2.8 points and 2.4 rebounds as nagging injuries prior to conference play limited his playing time in the latter half of the year. Giles, who averaged 8.3 minutes per game, scored a career-high 10 points in KU’s 65-59 win at nationally-ranked Kentucky on Jan. 9 and pulled down a personal best eight rebounds against Nevada in the third game of the season. Giles was second on the KU team with 19 blocked shots in 2004-05.
Of the 13 athletes boasting of prior USA Basketball experience, Justin Gray, Morrison and Withers were members of the 2004 USA U21 World Championship Qualifying Team that captured gold and earned the United States its berth to this year’s U21 Worlds. Redick was a member of the 2003 USA Junior World Championship Team that finished fifth with a 7-1 record; Brooks helped the 2002 USA Junior World Championship Qualifying Team earn a bronze medal, and Gay and Hairston were on the USA Junior National Select Team that downed a World Select Team 99-79 in the 2004 Hoop Summit. Additionally, Brown (2002 North), Curry (2002 and 2003 South), Fazekas (2002 West), Hairston (2003 North), Redick (2000 and 2001 East), Roberts (2002 East), Washington (2003 South) and Marcus Williams (2002 West) all got their start in USA Basketball at a Youth Development Festival and Carney participated in the 2004 USA Men’s National Team Trials.
In addition to Redick’s All-America accolades, which include Associated Press (A.P.), Sports Illustrated.com, Dick Vitale’s All-Rolls Royce, College Insider.com and Rivals.com first team honors, Redick was a finalist for the 2005 John R. Wooden Award, named the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year, was a unanimous selection to the All-ACC first team and earned ACC Tournament MVP honors.
Also receiving All-America accolades were Morrison, a College Insider.com first team and Sports Illustrated.com third team. The A.P. named Morrison as an All-America honorable mention along with Boone, Dudley and Fazekas; Dudley, Fazekas, Marcus Williams and Withers were Sports Illustrated.com All-America honorable mentions; while Fazekas and Morrison earned All-America honorable mention from Rivals.com.
College Insider.com and Rivals.com recognized Davis, Gay, Hairston and Washington as Freshman All-Americans and Curry was a Rivals.com Freshman All-America honorable mention.
Further, nine athletes were named by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to their respective all-district squads, including Boone, Dudley, Fazekas, Justin Gray, Taj Gray, Morrison, Ray, Redick and Washington.
The 21 athletes represent 17 NCAA Division I schools and 10 collegiate conferences, with Connecticut and the Big East leading the charge with three and five representatives, respectively.
2005 USA U21 World Championship Team Trials
Saint Joseph’s University (Pa.) head coach Phil Martelli has been named as the USA team’s head coach and acting as his assistants will be collegiate head coaches James `Bruiser’ Flint from Drexel University (Pa.) and Dennis Felton from the University of Georgia.
Collegiate head coaches Jeremy Cox of the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, Mike Dunlap of Metropolitan State College of Denver (Colo.) and Paul Patterson of Taylor University (Ind.) will serve as court coaches at the 2005 USA Basketball Men’s U21 National Team Trials.
Trials will be conducted at the Dallas Mavericks practice facility inside the American Airlines Center and the first Trials session will be held on Thursday, July 21 at 10:00 a.m. (all times local), followed by a 5:00 p.m. session that night. July 22 and 23 will again feature two-a-days with starting times at 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Team finalists will remain in Dallas for the USA’s July 24 – Aug. 1 training camp, which will feature a July 24 practice at the Dr. Pepper Star Center in Frisco, Texas, near Dallas. The training camp will conclude with a pair of daily practices at the Dallas Mavericks practice facility at 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 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. 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 5th and 6th place finishing teams in each group will compete for 9th-12th place.
The U21 World Championship draw took place March 10 in Argentina and the USA (Americas No. 1) will compete in Mar del Plata in preliminary round Group B, opening up Aug. 5 against China (Asia No. 2). Facing Lithuania (Europe No. 3) on Aug. 6, the United States will go up against Puerto Rico (Americas No. 2) on Aug. 7, before closing out the first round against Nigeria (Africa No. 1) on Aug. 9 and Slovenia (Europe No. 1) on Aug. 10. Group A, which will compete in Cordoba, includes Argentina (Americas No. 3 & host), Australia (Oceania No. 1), Canada (Americas No. 4), Greece (Europe No. 4), Iran (Asia No. 1) and Israel (Europe No. 2).
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.
2005 USA Basketball U21 World Championship Team Trials & Training Schedule
Thursday, July 21
10:00 a.m. Team Trials Mavericks Practice Facility
5:00 p.m. Team Trials Mavericks Practice Facility
Friday, July 22
10:00 a.m. Team Trials Mavericks Practice Facility
5:00 p.m. Team Trials Mavericks Practice Facility
Saturday, July 23
10:00 a.m. Team Trials Mavericks Practice Facility
5:00 p.m. Team Trials Mavericks Practice Facility
Sunday, July 24
2:00 p.m. Scrimmage Dr. Pepper Star Center
Monday, July 25
10:00 a.m. Training Mavericks Practice Facility
45:00 p.m. Training Mavericks Practice Facility
Tuesday, July 26
10:00 a.m. Training Mavericks Practice Facility
45:00 p.m. Training Mavericks Practice Facility
2005 Global Games @ the Dr. Pepper Star Center
Wednesday, July 27
1:00 p.m. USA vs. Ukraine
Thursday, July 28
8:00 p.m. USA vs. Team Texas Select
Friday, July 29
8:00 p.m. USA vs. Slovenia
Saturday, July 30
8:00 p.m. USA vs. Lithuania
Sunday, July 31
4:00 p.m. Finals TBD
Monday, August 1
TBD Training
TBD Depart for competition
NOTE: It is expected that finalists for the `05 U.S. squad will be announced following the July 21-23 USA Team Trials. The final 12-member roster will be announced prior to the team’s Aug. 1 departure for Argentina.
The Dallas Mavericks practice facility is inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, while the Dr. Pepper Star Center is located in Frisco, Texas, just outside of Dallas
