Ten teams from nine countries will be competing in this year's Global Games in Dallas, a tournament featuring some of the top young basketball talent in the world. Two of the teams in the competition will be from the United States.

While the team sponsored by USA Basketball has yet to be determined (a squad that will also go on to participate in the Junior World Championships), the Global Games Select squad has been selected and is filled with several top players from the Classes of 2003 and 2004. (For more information on the USA Basketball team selection, please click here.)

As has been the case in past years, the Select team is comprised mainly of players either from Texas or heading to a university in the southwest.

Note: Ndudi Ebi, 6-foot-10, 195-pound power forward from Houston (TX) Westbury Christian, will be on the roster if he chooses to withdraw his name from consideration for the 2003 NBA Draft.

Alternates for the Select Team are Darrell Arthur from Dallas (TX) South Oak Cliff, Brent Hackett from Fort Worth (TX) Southwest, Tyrone Nelson from Hempstead (TX), and Nic Wise from Ft. Bend (TX) Hightower. David Milson, head coach at Cedar Hill (TX) HS will lead the squad.

Using a Texas-based squad has not been a disadavantge considering the abilities of the players the Lone Star state has pumped out recently. There's certainly no lack of talent on this roster. But also on the team are some nationally known players, including three McDonald's All-Americans in Brooks, Giddens, and Shakur.

While the team in general may lack size to bang with some of the more experienced foreign teams, there are other qualities in the makeup of the squad that could prove to be a headache for the rest of the field.

"This is perhaps the most athletic team we have ever assembled," said Michael Sorrell, Executive Director of the Global Games. "It has been constructed to force the foreign teams to play at a much faster pace than they might be comfortable. There will be very few, if any, teams that will be able to run with this roster."

"We are very comfortable with their ability to defend last year's title."

Last year’s Global Games Select Team was the only United States team to win a gold medal in international basketball competition in 2002. That team, which featured the likes of Chris Bosh, Bracey Wright, Ike Diogu, and Daniel Horton, defeated Yugoslavia, 91-88, for the Global Games title. Yugoslavia's roster featured New Jersey Nets draftee Nenad Krstic and Darko Milicic, a likely lottery selection in this year's draft.

The Global Games, now in its fourth year, is the preeminent international basketball tournament played in the United States. The Global Games annually brings the world’s top amateur basketball players to Dallas, Texas. This year’s event will feature men’s junior national teams (ages 21 and under) from USA Basketball, Brazil, Yugoslavia, Canada, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Ukraine and teams from the continent of Africa and the Scandinavian region. The tournament will be played June 29 through July 5 at Southern Methodist University’s Moody Coliseum.