June 30, 2003

Duke rising sophomore J.J. Redick is one of 15 players competing for a spot on the 12-member USA Junior World Championship roster, USA Basketball announced on Sunday.

Eighteen finalists were invited to training camp, which began June 24 in Dallas, Texas. The official 12-member team will be finalized by July 6 in preparation for the FIBA Junior World Championship July 10-20 in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The USA team will also compete in the 2003 Global Games June 30-July 5 at Moody Coliseum in Dallas. The team opens play Monday at 9:00 p.m. EDT against Lithuania. The team will also meet Team Texas on July 1, Africa on July 2 and Canada on July 3. The finals of the Global Games will be held on July 5.

"We're a very quick, very athletic team that gets up and down the floor," said USA head coach Ernie Kent. "My concerns are that we don't have a lot of time to put this team together. But I certainly like their energy (and) their enthusiasm and they seem like a group that is really, really willing to work hard and listen. That's always a good thing from a coaching perspective."

The FIBA Junior World Championship Tournament will feature 16 junior national teams that qualified last summer and have been placed into four groups of four for preliminary round-robin play. The U.S. was placed in Group C, joining China, Nigeria and Slovenia. The U.S. squad will open play against Slovenia on July 10 and face China on July 11 and Nigeria on July 12. The finals will be played on July 20.

The 15 finalists for the USA team are: Maurice Ager (Michigan State), De'Angelo Alexander (Oklahoma), Brandon Bowman (Georgetown), Daniel Brown (Illinois), Graham Brown (Michigan), David Burgess (Woodbridge [Calif.] H.S), Paul Davis (Michigan State), Ryan Hollins (UCLA), Daniel Horton (Michigan), Jonathan Modica (Arkansas), Kevin Pittsnogle (West Virginia), J.J. Redick (Duke), Mustafa Shakur (Philadelphia [Pa.] Friends Central), C.J. Watson (Tennessee) and Deron Williams (Illinois).

Mohamed Abukar (Rancho Bernardo [Calif.] H.S.) and Mitch Platt (Green Valley [Nev.]) H.S.) were cut from the team on June 29. Brian Johnson (Bishop O'Connell [Va.] H.S.) is also no longer at training camp after suffering a knee injury.

2003 USA Men's Junior World Championship Team Finalists 

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	DOB	Hometown (School)

Maurice Ager	G	6-4	187	2/9/84	Detroit, Mich. (Michigan State)
De'Angelo Alexander F	6-5	215	1/21/84	Midwest City, Okla. (Oklahoma)
Brandon Bowman	F	6-8	210	10/15/84 Santa Monica, Calif. (Georgetown)
Daniel Brown	G	6-1	175	8/17/84	Maywood, Ill. (Illinois)
Graham Brown	C	6-9	250	8/19/84	Mio, Mich. (Michigan)
David Burgess	F	6-10	255	2/14/86	Irvine, Calif. (Woodbridge)
Paul Davis	F	6-11	245	7/21/84	Rochester, Mich. (Michigan State)
Ryan Hollins	C	6-11	215	10/10/84 Pasadena, Calif. (UCLA)
Daniel Horton	G	6-3	197	4/21/84	Cedar Hill, Texas (Michigan)
Jonathan Modica	F	6-4	198	9/26/84	Smackover, Ark. (Arkansas)
Kevin Pittsnogle F/C	6-10	225	7/30/84	Martinsburg, W.Va. (West Virginia)
J.J. Redick	G	6-4	200	6/24/84	Roanoke, Va. (Duke)
Mustafa Shakur	G	6-3	175	8/18/84	Wynnewood, Pa. (Friends Central)
C.J. Watson	G	6-2	160	4/17/84	Las Vegas, Nev. (Tennessee)
Deron Williams	G	6-3	205	6/26/84	The Colony, Texas (Illinois)

Head Coach: Ernie Kent (Oregon)
Assistant Coach: Dennis Felton (Georgia)
Assistant Coach: Ray Harper (Kentucky Wesleyan College)