USA roster announced for Hoop Summit

USA Basketball announced the roster for the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select National Team today. The USA squad will participate against a World Select Team in the Nike Hoop Summit, scheduled for Saturday, April 9, 6:30 p.m. (CT) at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.

The USA roster includes:

No. 1 ranked Gerald Green (Oklahoma State)

No. 2 ranked Louis Williams (Georgia)

No. 5 ranked Richard Hendrix (Alabama)

No. 6 ranked Martell Webster (Washington)

No. 8 ranked Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)

No. 9 ranked Monta Ellis (Mississippi State)

No. 10 ranked Julian Wright (Kansas)

No. 23 ranked J.P. Prince (Arizona)

No. 25 ranked Greg Paulus (Duke)

No. 31 ranked Jon Brockman (Washington)

Although the roster for the Junior Select National Team includes seven players ranked in the top ten of the Rivals150, the USA Basketball Cadet and Youth Committee's purpose was not to select an all-star team but to comprise a team with players that can come together and win a competitive game.

"This is a team we really like," said Don Showalter, who is a member of the USA Basketball Cadet and Youth Committee and a former chair, in the USA Basketball press release. "We've learned over the past years personnel wise what it takes to make a good team for the Hoop Summit. We've put together a team that will really compete and have success against a team that I'm sure is going to be a really fine World Team. It's going to be an exciting game and I think we have the personnel to battle them.

"This event is so much different than an all-star game. When we put the team together we don't put it together as an all-star team, we put it together by people who can play different roles, who are going to blend into a team. For USA Basketball it is a huge thing to get the kids acclimated to the international level of play, how good these international players are, and it helps develop our kids for future USA Basketball events. It's a game really needed at this level to start these players going up against international competition. Over the years the Hoop Summit has had tremendous games. It's a great experience for the kids and I think sometimes our kids in the United States don't understand how good the international players can be and are. From that standpoint I think it's a very, very much needed game."

The USA squad was victorious last year with a 99-79 win over the World Squad. The USA's overall record in the Nike Hoop Summit is 5-2.