June 4, 2007

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland senior forward James Gist (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel HS) has been invited to attend the 2007 USA Basketball Pan American Games Team Trials, scheduled for July 12-14 at Haverford College (Pa.). The Trials will be used to select the finalists for the USA Basketball squad that will participate in the 2007 Pan American Games which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 13-29. Athlete selections for the trials were made by the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee, chaired by Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim.

Gist, who helped the Terps to a 25-9 finish in 2006-07, started 33 games and played in all 34 contests for Maryland during his junior season. He was named honorable mention All-ACC. He ranked third on the team and 23rd in the ACC in scoring (12.6 ppg). Gist was the team's leading scorer in conference play with 13.9 points per contest. He was fourth in the ACC in blocked shots (2.12 bpg) and seventh in rebounding (7.2 rpg). The Silver Spring native scored in double figures 28 times as a junior and posted six double-doubles. He blocked 72 shots and ranks eighth all-time at Maryland with 154 career blocked shots.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to participate at the trials in July," said Gist. "This will give me the chance to test myself against top players from around the country and will only improve my game. To possibly represent my family, the University of Maryland, and Team USA at the Pan American games was something I just couldn't pass up."

In 2003, Gist participated in USA Basketball's Youth Development Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as a member of the East team. He is one of 16 players invited to next month's trials who has prior USA Basketball experience.

The trials begin July 12 with the selected team finalists remaining for the USA's July 15-21 training camp. The official 12-member USA Pan American Games squad will compete July 25-29 in the 2007 Pan American Games men's basketball competition. The United States has been placed in preliminary round Group A along with Argentina, Panama and Uruguay, and Group B consists of Brazil, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The U.S. opens preliminary play July 25 facing Uruguay, then meets Panama on July 26 and the U.S. closes out preliminary round action against Argentina on July 27. Semifinals will be held on July 28 and the finals will be played July 29.

USA Men In The Pan American Games
The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics and organized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), is a multi-sport competition open to men and women representing countries from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. The 2007 Pan American Games will be held July 13-29 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the men's basketball competition slated for July 25-29. Featuring a roster of collegians who competed primarily against older and more internationally experienced senior national teams, the USA men suffered three narrow defeats in five games to place fourth at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The Americans have earned a medal in 12 of their 14 Pan Am Games appearances, including a record eight golds, as well as three silvers and one bronze. The U.S. men currently own an 81-11 (.880 winning percentage) all-time mark at the Pan Am Games.

Held since 1951, the USA dominated the first five Pan Am Games, earning five consecutive golds. At the 1971 Pan Ams, despite a record of 2-1 in the preliminary round, the USA did not advance to the medal round and for the first time in Pan American history did not win the gold medal. However, the United States rebounded for a 26-0 record over the next three Pan Am Games and captured its last Pan Am gold in 1983. The gold has eluded the U.S. in the past five Games, with the Americans earning three silvers (1987, 1995 and 1999), and a bronze medal (1991).

USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee
The USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee, in addition to chair Boeheim, consists of: NCAA appointees Fran Dunphy (head coach, Temple University, Pa.); Tom Izzo (head coach, Michigan State University); Ernie Kent (head coach, University of Oregon) and Tubby Smith (head coach, University of Minnesota); NABC appointee Bill Self (head coach, University of Kansas); NAIA appointee Bob Burchard (head coach, Columbia College, Mo.); NJCAA appointee Scott Schumacher (head coach, Kilgore C.C., Texas), and athlete representatives Steve Wojciechowski (1995 Junior World Championship team / assistant coach, Duke University, N.C.) and A.J. Wynder (1995 Pan American Games team / head coach, Nassau Community College, N.Y.).