University of North Carolina Athletics
Ellington To Try Out For Pan Am Games Team This Week
July 9, 2007 | Men's Basketball
July 9, 2007
by USA Basketball
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Adding a pair of players who recently withdrew from consideration for the 2007 NBA draft to return to their college program, 32 of the nation's top collegiate basketball players are expected to participate in the July 12-14 USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games Team Trials that will be held at Haverford College (Pa.). University of North Carolina sophomore Wayne Ellington is among those vying for a spot on the squad.
The Trials will be used to select the finalists for the USA Basketball Pan American Games squad that will compete in the men's basketball competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 25-29. Athlete selections for the Trials were made by the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee, chaired by Syracuse University (N.Y.) head coach Jim Boeheim.
Previously accepting invitations to participate in the 2007 USA Pan American Games Team Trials were: Jon Brockman (Washington / Snohomish, Wash.); Brian Butch (Wisconsin / Appleton, Wis.); Josh Carter (Texas A&M / Dallas, Texas); Mario Chalmers (Kansas / Anchorage, Alaska); Sherron Collins (Kansas / Chicago, Ill.); Brandon Costner (North Carolina State / West Orange, N.J.); Eric Devendorf (Syracuse / Bay City, Mich.); Joey Dorsey (Memphis / Baltimore, Md.); Ellington (North Carolina / Wynnewood, Pa.); Randal Falker (Southern Illinois / St. Louis, Mo.); Shan Foster (Vanderbilt / Kenner, La.); Alonzo Gee (Alabama / Palm Beach, Fla.); James Gist (Maryland / Silver Spring, Md.); Richard Hendrix (Alabama / Athens, Ala.); Roy Hibbert (Georgetown / Adelphi, Md.);Maarty Leunen (Oregon / Redmond, Ore.); Chris Lofton (Tennessee / Maysville, Ky.); Derrick Low (Washington State / Honolulu, Hawaii); Wesley Matthews (Marquette / Madison, Wis.); Eric Maynor (Virginia Commonwealth / Fayetteville, N.C.); Jerel McNeal (Marquette / Chicago, Ill.); Tasmin Mitchell (LSU / Denham Springs, La.); Drew Neitzel (Michigan State / Grand Rapids, Mich.); DeMarcus Nelson (Duke / Elk Grove, Calif.); Ahmad Nivins (Saint Joseph's / Jersey City, N.J.); Scottie Reynolds (Villanova / Herndon, Va.); Jon Scheyer (Duke / Northbrook, Ill.); Bryce Taylor (Oregon / Encino, Calif.); Kyle Weaver (Washington State / Beloit, Wis.); D.J. White (Indiana / Tuscaloosa, Ala.).
Ellington started 37 of 38 Tar Heel games as a freshman last season, tallying 11.7 points per game as the squad's third-leading scorer and hitting 37.1 percent of his three-point field goal attempts.
Villanova University (Pa.) head coach Jay Wright is leading the USA's 2007 Pan American Games Team, while University of Alabama head mentor Mark Gottfried and Yale University head coach James Jones will serve as assistant coaches.
Trials for the USA Pan American Games Team will be held July 12-14 at Haverford College (Pa.) with the 32 U.S. hopefuls participating. The first trials session will be held on Thursday, July 12. Two trials sessions will be held on July 13 and 14. The selected USA team finalists will remain 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.
