usa

SoCal College Recruiting News

USA Basketball Announces Men's
National Team Trials Invitees--(May 8, 1998)

The list of 1998 USA Goodwill Games Team invitees was announced yesterday by USA Basketball, the official governing body for the sport in the U.S. The Men's National Team, which will play at the USA Goodwill Games will be USA Basketball's top men's collegiate team this year. Only one high school senior is on the trials roster for the Men's National Team: Joel Przybilla (Minnesota), a finalist for the 1998 Naismith Award. The 33 invitees will be competing for a position on the 12-member 1998 USA Basketball Goodwill Games Team.

Perhaps its no surprise that Przybilla is on the senior team (most of his contemporaries in this year's recruiting class are on the Junior Men's Team tryout roster): University of Minnesota head coach Clem Haskins will serve as head coach of the 1998 USA Basketball Goodwill Games Team. Haskins knows talent when he sees it, and thus Przybilla's presence on the senior squad tryout list.

Haskins will be assisted by Eastern Michigan University head coach Milton Barnes and St. Joseph's University (Pa.) head coach Phil Martelli.

The 1998 Goodwill Games will be held July 19-24 at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., and the U.S. will open play Sunday, July 19 at 1:45 p.m. (EDT) against Puerto Rico. The team will train July 5-12 in Minneapolis, Minn. before playing the 1998 USA Basketball Men's World Championship Team, comprised of players from the NBA, in an exhibition game on July 14 at the Palace of Auburn Hills (Mich.).

The USA will be looking for its first Goodwill Games gold medal since the inaugural Games in 1986. The U.S. has compiled a 15-5 (.750) record in the quadrennial Goodwill Games, winning a silver medal in 1990 and a bronze medal in 1994. The competition this year will have 8 teams, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Lithuania, Puerto Rico, Russia, and the United States. The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four teams each and each team will play a total of five games at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y.

Trials will begin Friday, May 29 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The first session will be held from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m (all times MDT) on May 29, and will be followed by sessions from 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday, May 30. The 1998 USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials will conclude with practice from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday, May 31. Finalists will be announced on Monday, June 1.

Four players who competed in the 1998 NCAA Final Four, guard Arthur Lee (Stanford) and forward Mark Madsen (Stanford), Andre Miller (Utah) and forward Scott Padgett (Kentucky), head the list of invitees for the 1998 USA Goodwill Games Team. Also included are Big Ten Conference Player of the Year Mateen Cleaves (Michigan State), Big East Conference Player of the Year Richard Hamilton (Connecticut), and Big East Conference Freshman of the Year Khalid El-Amin (Connecticut).

Padgett and Michael Ruffin (Tulsa) were members of the 1997 USA Men's World University Games Team that posted a 6-0 record and won the gold medal in Sicily, Italy, while 6-8 forward Brian Cardinal (Purdue) joined Miller on the 1997 USA Men's 22 & Under World Championship Team.

Guard Trajan Langdon (Duke) was a member of the gold medal winning 1994 USA Men's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team and a member of the 1995 Men's Junior World Championship Team, while the 1998 USA Men's National Team Trials also include several alumni from the annual Nike Hoop Summit. Shane Battier (Duke), Elton Brand (Duke), and Ryan Humphrey (Oklahoma) were key members of the 1997 USA Hoop Summit Team that defeated the International Select Team, 97-90, while BJ McKie (South Carolina) was a member of the debut 1995 USA Hoop Summit squad that posted an 86-77 win over the International team.

Hamilton, Miller, Padgett, Ruffin, guard A.J. Guyton (Indiana), center Lari Ketner (Massachusetts), forward Jamel Thomas (Providence) and guard Melvin Watson (South Carolina) all competed a year ago at the 1997 USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials. In 1996, Miller and 6-11 center Calvin Booth (Penn State) competed at the USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials.

1998 USA Basketball Men's Goodwill Games Team Trials Roster
NAME	POS	HGT	CLASS	COLLEGE / HIGH SCHOOL / HOMETOWN
Shane Battier	F	6-8	2001	Duke / Birmingham, MI
Calvin Booth	C	6-11	1999	Penn State / Reynoldsburg, OH
Elton Brand	F	6-8	2001	Duke / Peekskill, NY
Brian Cardinal	F	6-8	2000	Purdue / Tolono, IL
Keith Carter	G	6-4	1999	Mississippi / Perryville, AR
Mateen Cleaves	G	6-2	2000	Michigan State / Flint, MI
Vonteego Cummings	G	6-5	1999	Pittsburgh / Thomson, GA
Khalid El-Amin	G	5-10	2001	Connecticut / Minneapolis, MN
A.J. Guyton	G	6-1	2000	Indiana / Peoria, IL
Richard Hamilton	F	6-6	2000	Connecticut / Coatesville, PA
Ryan Humphrey	F	6-8	2001	Oklahoma / Tulsa, OK
Jermaine Jackson	G	6-4	1999	Detroit Mercy / Detroit, MI
Alvin Jones	C	6-11	2001	Georgia Tech / Lakeland, FL
Jumaine Jones	F	6-7	2001	Georgia / Camilla, GA
Lari Ketner	C	6-10	1999	Massachusetts / Philadelphia, PA
Trajan Langdon	G	6-3	1999	Duke / Anchorage, AK
Arthur Lee	G	6-0	1999	Stanford / Los Angeles, CA
Quincy Lewis	F	6-7	1999	Minnesota / Little Rock, AR
Mark Madsen	F	6-8	2000	Stanford / Danville, CA
BJ McKie	G	6-2	1999	South Carolina / Columbia, SC
Pete Mickeal	F	6-7	2000	Cincinnati / Indian Hills C.C. / Rock Island, IL
Andre Miller	G	6-2	1999	Utah / Compton, CA
Roland Miller	G	6-3	1999	East Central University / Guthrie, OK
Byron Mouton	F	6-6	2001	Tulane / Rayne, LA
Scott Padgett	F	6-9	1999	Kentucky / Louisville, KY
Adrian Peterson	G	6-4	1999	Oklahoma State / North Little Rock, AR
James Posey	F	6-7	1999	Xavier (Ohio) / Twinsburg, OH
Joel Przybilla	C	7-0	1998	Minnesota / Monticello / Monticello, MN
Michael Ruffin	F	6-8	1999	Tulsa / Englewood, CO
Wally Szczerbiak	F	6-8	1999	Miami (Ohio) / Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Etan Thomas	C	6-9	2000	Syracuse / Tulsa, OK
Jamel Thomas	F	6-6	1999	Providence / Brooklyn, NY
Melvin Watson	G	6-1	1998	South Carolina / Charleston, SC