July 6, 2000

Featuring 16 of the nation's top men's basketball players aged 20-years-old or younger (born on or after January 1, 1980), finalists for the 2000 USA Basketball World Championship for Young Men Qualifying Team will train July 11-16 at LaSalle High School in Miami, Fla., in hopes of earning one of 12 positions on the final USA roster.

The USA's first practice will be Tuesday, July 11 from 7-9 p.m (EDT) and the finalists are scheduled to practice twice daily, 9-11 a.m. (EDT) and 5-7 p.m. (EDT), from Wednesday, July 12 through Sunday, July 16. The final 12-member USA team will be announced at or near the conclusion of training camp.

The 2000 Confederation of Pan American Basketball Associations (COPABA) World Championship for Young Men Qualifying Tournament will take place July 19-23 in Ribeirao Preto, near Sao Paulo, Brazil. Featuring eight nations from the International Basketball Federation's (FIBA) Americas Zone, the countries are split into two groups of four teams each for preliminary round play. The United States was placed in Preliminary Group B along with Argentina, Panama and Uruguay, while Group A consists of host Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The top three teams from the Americas Zone Qualifying Tournament will earn a berth to the 2001 FIBA World Championship for Young Men, which will be held in Japan.

The U.S. will tip-off tournament play on July 19 against Uruguay, followed by a July 20 contest against Panama and will conclude its preliminary round games against Argentina on July 21. The top two teams from each Group will advance to the medal semifinals, slated for July 22, and the gold and bronze medal games will be contested on July 23.

Syracuse University (N.Y.) head coach Jim Boeheim will serve as the USA head coach. Boeheim will be assisted by recently named University of Houston (Texas) head coach Ray McCallum and Hofstra University (N.Y.) head coach Jay Wright.

The 16 finalists, who were selected following May 26-28 Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., include 13 who played at NCAA Division I universities in 1999-00, one who played at a junior college, and two who played in high school. Included among the finalists are: Steve Blake (Maryland / Miami Lakes, Fla.), Carlos Boozer (Duke / Juneau, Alaska), Nick Collison (Kansas / Iowa Falls, Iowa), Brian Cook (Illinois / Lincoln, Ill.), Mike Dunleavy (Duke / Lake Oswego, Ore.), Drew Gooden (Kansas / Richmond, Calif.), Joe Johnson (Arkansas / Little Rock, Ark.), Steve Logan (Cincinnati / Cleveland, Ohio), Tayshaun Prince (Kentucky / Compton, Calif.), Zach Randolph (Marion H.S., Ind. / Marion, Ind.), Jason Richardson (Michigan State / Saginaw, Mich.), Kenny Satterfield (Cincinnati / Bronx, N.Y.), Johnnie Selvie (Southeastern C.C. / Flint, Mich.), Bobby Simmons (DePaul / Chicago, Ill.), Marcus Taylor (Waverly H.S. / Lansing, Mich.) and Jason Williams (Duke / Plainfield, N.J.).

More than half of the finalists for the USA squad have donned the red, white and blue in the past. Collison boasts the most, with experience on three U.S. squads as he was a member of the 1999 USA Men's Junior National Select Team that claimed a 107-95 victory over an International Select Team in the fifth annual Nike Hoop Summit, he aided the 1998 USA Men's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team to a gold medal and the 1999 USA Junior World Championship Team to a silver medal finish. Joining Collison on both the `98 Junior team and `99 Junior World Championship squad was Simmons, while Blake helped the U.S. juniors to a gold medal in 1998 and Logan was captain of the 1999 USA Junior World Championship Team. Dunleavy, Johnson, and Williams were on the 1999 USA Junior National Select Team, while Randolph and Taylor led the U.S. to a victory in the 2000 Hoop Summit. Additionally, Satterfield and Taylor competed in the 1998 USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival, Randolph was a 1999 Festival participant and Blake was a finalist for the 1999 USA Junior Worlds squad.

Held every four years, the U.S. qualified for the previous competition which was initiated in 1993 as the FIBA 22 And Under World Championship and originally designed for men 22-years-old or younger. FIBA lowered the age eligibility to 21-years-old or younger in December 1998 and changed the competition name to the World Championship for Young Men. Winner of the FIBA 22 And Under World Championship gold medal in 1993 with an unblemished 8-0 record, the USA squad in 1997 finished in fifth place with a 6-2 record.