TORONTO, Ontario -
Former Bronco men's basketball standouts Steve Nash and Steve Ross have been named among the 26 athletes invited to Team Canada's initial training camp to compete for a spot on the 2003 Senior Men's National Basketball Team (SMNT), Canada Basketball announced recently.
The team, coached by Jay Triano, will be competing at the FIBA Americas
qualification tournament August 20-31, 2003 in San Juan, Puerto Rico in an
attempt to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. In order
to qualify for the Olympic Games, the team must finish in one of the top
three positions at the FIBA Americas tournament.
"We are excited to return to Puerto Rico and recapture the magic of 1999
when we qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games," said head coach, Jay Triano.
"The tournament will be very competitive as the United States, Argentina,
Brazil and Puerto Rico will all be sending their best players, but we are
confident that if we play to our capability we can qualify for Athens in
2004."
Training camps for the FIBA Americas tournament will begin in late June.
The competitive schedule will begin with an exhibition tournament in early
July and continue with the Pan American Games in early August. The 2003
SMNT schedule will run as follows:
DATES
EVENT
LOCATION
FACILITY
June 26, 2003 - 6:00pm
Open Tryout
Toronto, ON
University of Toronto
June 27 - 30, 2003
Tryouts & Training
Toronto, ON
Air Canada Centre
July 1 - 12, 2003
Tournament
TBD
TBD
July 25 - 31, 2003
Training
Toronto, ON
Air Canada Centre
August 1 - 11, 2003
Pan Am Games
Santo Domingo, DR
Olympic Center
August 12 - 19, 2003
Training
Toronto, ON
Air Canada Centre
August 20 - 31, 2003
FIBA Americas
San Juan, PR
Roberto Clemente Coliseum
The following 26 athletes have been invited to the team's tryouts:
Name
Ht
Pos.
School/Club
Hometown
Age
ANDERSON, Richard
6'6"
F
Angers, France
Ottawa, ON
25
BARRETT, Rowan
6'5"
F
Hapoel Haifa, Israel
Mississauga, ON
29
BROWN, Denham
6'5"
F
University of Connecticut
Toronto, ON
20
DANIELS, David
5'10"
G
Athletes in Action
Cincinnati, OH
32
ENGLISH, Carl
6'5"
G
University of Hawaii
Patrick's Cove, NF
22
FOX, Rick
6'7"
F
Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles, CA
33
GUARASCI, Peter
6'9"
F
Cordivari Roseto, Italy
Niagara Falls, ON
29
HAMILTON, Sherman
6'1"
G
Zalgiris, Lithuania
Malton, ON
31
JOBITY, Kevin
6'10"
F
Sagesse, Lebanon
Toronto, ON
28
JULIUS, Kyle
6'3"
G
University of Guelph
Thunder Bay, ON
23
KARANGWA, Prosper
6'7"
G
Siena College
Montreal, QC
25
KWIATKOWSKI, Andrew
6'6"
F
Frankfurt Skyliners, Germany
Cambridge, ON
24
MacCULLOCH, Todd
7'0"
C
Philadelphia 76ers
Winnipeg, MB
27
MAGLOIRE, Jamaal
6'11"
C
New Orleans Hornets
Toronto, ON
24
MAVIS, Andrew
6'6"
F
Newcastle, England
Richmond, BC
26
MEEKS, Michael
6'9"
F
Zadar, Croatia
Brampton, ON
31
MENDEZ, Juan
6'7"
F
Niagara University
Montreal, QC
21
NASH, Steve
6'3"
G
Dallas Mavericks
Victoria, BC
29
NEWTON, Greg
6'11"
C
MM-Beer Cherno, Bulgaria
Niagara Falls, ON
28
NOHR, Randy
6'2"
G
Sallen, Sweden
Aldergrove, BC
25
ROSS, Steve
6'8"
F
Rodez, France
Victoria, BC
22
RUSSELL, Kyle
6'2"
G"
University of British Columbia"
Richmond, BC
24
SWORDS, Shawn
6'4"
G
Scafati, Italy
Ottawa, ON
29
THOMAS, David
6'8"
G
Frankfurt Skyliners, Germany
Toronto, ON
26
THOMAS, Novell"
6'0"
G
Buffalo City Thunder, USA
Richmond, BC
27
YOUNG, Jesse"
6'10"
F
George Mason University
Peterborough, ON
23
Canada Basketball is a private, not-for-profit corporation that is committed
to the growth of the sport in Canada through the support and promotion of
programs that expand the number of opportunities to "play the game." Just as
important, Canada Basketball is focused on preparing Canada's national teams
for the Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan American Games, World Junior
Championships and World University Games. The aspiration of Canada
Basketball is to instill the pride, commitment, passion and respect that
Canadians personify into the development of basketball across the country
and internationally.
