COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Rising sophomore Melo Trimble has accepted an invitation to take part in the 2015 U.S. Pan American Games Men's Basketball Team training camp, USA Basketball announced Monday. A total of 22 players will compete for 12 roster spots to represent the United States at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.
Trimble had a sensational freshman campaign for the Terps in 2014-15, posting a team-high 16.2 points per game, 106 assists and 44 steals while racking up First Team All-Big Ten honors. The Upper Marlboro, Md., product was also tabbed a Sporting News Second Team All-American and USBWA Freshman All-American while leading Maryland to a school-record 26 regular season victories in his rookie season in College Park.
“I am very humbled to have this opportunity,” Trimble said. “I am looking forward to learning from an outstanding coaching staff and playing with so many talented players. This experience will be beneficial as I continue to work on my overall game.”
Mark Few of Gonzaga University will serve as head coach of the 2015 U.S. Pan American Games Men's Basketball Team, and University of Colorado's Tad Boyle and longtime NBA coach Mike Brown were selected as assistant coaches. The training camp will also feature a trio of court coaches, including Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon, Jason Flanigan (Holmes Community College) and Ron Hunter (Georgia State).
“It's great to have Coach Turgeon out there with me,” Trimble said. “I am happy that he will have chance to watch me play as I have put in a lot of hard work over the summer.”
“This is a very well-deserving honor for Melo,” Turgeon said. “I know he will work very hard and this will be a tremendous experience for him. Melo will also have the opportunity to play with and compete against an outstanding group of players.”
The USA training camp will be held July 7-12 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the U.S. team will train July 13-16 at the Chicago Bulls practice facility.
The 2015 Pan American Games men's basketball competition will take place July 21-25 in Toronto, Canada. The U.S. men have been placed into Group A and will play all three of its preliminary round games at 9 p.m. EDT, including Venezuela on July 21, Puerto Rico on July 22 and Brazil on July 23. Competing in Group B will be Argentina, Canada, Dominican Republic and Mexico.
