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Jason Williams Added To 2002 USA Basketball Men's World Championship Team
Aug. 14, 2002
Duke University All-America guard Jason Williams has been added to the 2002 USA Basketball Men's World Championship Team, USA Basketball announced Wednesday. Williams replaces Ray Allen (Milwaukee Bucks) who was forced to withdraw because of tendinitis in his left knee. Originally named on March 12 as an alternate on the USA World Championship Team, Williams' selection as an official USA team member was made by the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team Committee.
The 2002 FIBA World Basketball Championship for Men is being held in Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 29- Sept. 8. The U.S. team opens its training Aug. 16 in San Francisco, Calif.
"Playing for your country with the greatest players in the world is truly an honor," said Williams. "The honor is even greater in light of Sept. 11 and what our country has endured and survived since then. I know I'm more patriotic now than I have ever been in my life and playing for your flag and your country is really the greatest honor you could have. Playing with and against some of the greatest players in the world will be great preparation for my rookie season in Chicago."
"It's very exciting to see that the collegiate community will have representation on the USA Basketball Men's World Championship Team in Jay Williams," said USA Basketball President Tom Jernstedt. "Jay enjoyed a remarkable career as a student-athlete at Duke, winning an NCAA championship as a sophomore and graduating in three years. He is a versatile and multi-talented player who is an excellent addition to this team. Additionally, Nick Collison as an alternate will train with the USA team and will gain some invaluable experience before his senior season at Kansas. We are pleased to have representation from the colleges on the 2002 USA World Championship Team."
"We're very fortunate to add a talented young player like Jay Williams to the World Championship 12-man roster," said Stu Jackson, chair of USA Basketball's Senior Men's National Team Committee and the NBA's Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations. "Jay has tremendous ball handling skills and will combine with Andre Miller and Baron Davis to provide the team with steady leadership from the point guard position. It's unfortunate that Ray Allen's injury will not allow him to compete at this time but we look forward to Ray's participation with USA Basketball in the future."
"I'm very disappointed that I won't be able to represent the United States in the World Championship. My heart wants to be in Indianapolis, but my head says that it is too soon to play competitively. This was a tough decision, but I am making great progress on my knee rehabilitation, and would like that to continue," stated Allen about his withdrawal.
Williams, who graduated in just three years from Duke University with a sociology degree, declared himself eligible for the 2002 NBA Draft and was selected by Chicago with the No. 2 pick. Starting every game (108) in his three seasons at Duke, he assisted the Blue Devils to a 95-13 record (.880 winning percentage), while winning or sharing two Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season titles and claiming three ACC Tournament championships. Participating in three NCAA Tournaments as well, Duke captured the 2001 NCAA championship in Williams' sophomore year.
The consensus 2002 National Player of the Year and two-time first team All-American, Williams led the ACC as a junior in scoring at 21.3 ppg. and ranked fourth in the league in steals (2.17 spg.), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.383) and sixth in assists (5.3 apg.). He also averaged 3.5 rpg., and shot 45.7 percent from the field (11th in the ACC).
Williams ended his college career ranked among Duke's all-time top 10 in scoring (2,079, tied for sixth), scoring average (19.3, sixth), 3-point field goals made (313, second), 3-point attempts (797, second), 3-point percentage (.393, seventh), assists (644, third) and steals (235, fifth).
His 2,079 career points ranks second all-time in the ACC among juniors. Only Dennis Scott of Georgia Tech (2,115) had a better scoring total through three seasons. Williams also ranks sixth on the ACC's all-time 3-point made field goal list, 14th in steals and 17th in assists. Williams became just the third ACC player to reach 2,000 points and 600 assists in a career, joining North Carolina's Phil Ford and Travis Best of Georgia Tech.
Williams is no newcomer to USA Basketball. In 2000, he led the USA World Championship For Young Men Qualifying squad in scoring and ranked fourth overall in the tournament averaging 20.2 ppg. He also was the tournament's leader in assists averaging 5.8 a contest. Later that summer he was back wearing USA Basketball's red, white and blue uniform after being named to the USA Basketball Select Team that was comprised of top college players.
Practicing for five days against the 2000 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team that was preparing for the Sydney Olympic Games, the two teams met in an exhibition game and Williams accounted for 15 points, two assists and two steals in his team's 111-74 loss to the Olympians. Williams' introduction to USA Basketball came in 1999 as a member of the USA Hoop Summit Team. While leading the American squad comprised of high school seniors to a 107-95 victory over an International Select Team, Williams recorded 14 points, five rebounds and seven assists in the win.
The 12-member USA World Championship Team also includes NBA standouts: Elton Brand (Los Angeles Clippers); Antonio Davis (Toronto Raptors); Baron Davis (New Orleans Hornets); Michael Finley (Dallas Mavericks); Raef LaFrentz (Dallas Mavericks); Shawn Marion (Phoenix Suns); Andre Miller (Los Angeles Clippers); Reggie Miller (Indiana Pacers); Jermaine O'Neal (Indiana Pacers); Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics) and Ben Wallace (Detroit Pistons). University of Kansas senior forward Nick Collison has been named as an alternate and will train with the U.S. squad.
Milwaukee Bucks head mentor George Karl is head coach of USA Basketball's 2002 World Championship Team, and serving as assistant coaches are San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, Stanford University head mentor Mike Montgomery and University of Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson.
The 2002 USA Basketball Men's World Championship Team opens its pre-World Championship training on Friday, Aug. 16 in San Francisco, Calif., and the U.S. team will spend 13 days leading up to the Aug. 29-Sept. 8 FIBA World Basketball Championship For Men training in Oakland and San Francisco, Calif.; Portland, Ore., and Indianapolis, Ind. The USA squad will also play a pair of exhibition games during its training, meeting the Chinese World Championship Team at The Arena in Oakland on Thursday, Aug. 22 (7 p.m. PDT) and the German World Championship Team at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland on Sunday, Aug. 25 (7 p.m. PDT).
The United States men open play in the FIBA World Championship on Thursday, Aug. 29 against Algeria (8 p.m. - all times listed are Indianapolis local times) in a game televised by Turner. The USA-Germany contest on Friday, Aug. 30 (7 p.m.) will be televised by ESPN2, and Turner will televise the USA's final preliminary round game against China on Saturday, Aug. 31 (8 p.m.). All three of the USA's preliminary round games will be played at the RCA Dome.
Following a day off (Sept. 1), second round play will be conducted Sept. 2-4. If the United States finishes in the top three of its preliminary round group and advances to the second round, then the USA game on Monday, Sept. 2 (8 p.m.) against an opponent TBD will be televised by Turner. ESPN2 will broadcast live the USA's final two second-round games on Tuesday, Sept. 3 (8 p.m.) and Wednesday, Sept. 4 (7 p.m.). All three of the USA's second-round games are slated to be played in Conseco Fieldhouse.
If the USA finishes among the top four teams in the second round and advances to the medal round quarterfinals, then the USA's quarterfinals match up on Thursday, Sept. 5 ( 8 p.m.) will be televised live by Turner.
The medal round semifinals action is slated for Saturday, Sept. 7 (1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.), and the gold medal (3:00 p.m.) and bronze medal games (12:30 p.m.) are scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 8. NBC will televise the 3:30 p.m. semifinals game on Sept. 7 and the Sept. 8 gold medal game.
The USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team Committee, which is responsible for the selection of the USA men's World Championship and Olympic teams, consists of nine members and a non-voting chair. In addition to Jackson who serves as chair of the Committee, the Committee also includes Bryan Colangelo, President and General Manager of the Phoenix Suns; Billy King, General Manager of the Philadelphia 76ers; Mitch Kupchak, General Manager of the Los Angeles Lakers; C.M. Newton, CEO of the 2002 World Basketball Championship; Kevin O'Connor, Vice President of Basketball Operations of the Utah Jazz; Garry St. Jean, General Manager of the Golden State Warriors; Rod Thorn, President of the New Jersey Nets; and athlete representatives Joe Dumars, a member of the gold medalist 1994 USA World Championship Team, and Steve Smith, a member of the gold medalist 1994 USA World Championship and 2000 U.S. Olympic teams.
Ex-official members of the Committee include Tom Jernstedt, President of USA Basketball and Senior Vice President of the NCAA; Quinn Buckner, USA Basketball's Vice President for Men; and Billy Hunter, Executive Director of the National Basketball Players Association and USA Basketball Board of Directors member.
2002 USA Basketball Men's World Championship Team
NAME POS HGT WGT DOB PRO TEAM / COLLEGEElton Brand F 6-8 275 03/11/79 Los Angeles Clippers / Duke '99 Antonio Davis C 6-9 230 10/31/68 Toronto Raptors / Texas-El Paso '90 Baron Davis G 6-3 223 04/13/79 New Orleans Hornets / UCLA '99 Michael Finley G 6-7 215 03/06/73 Dallas Mavericks / Wisconsin '95 Raef LaFrentz F/C 6-11 240 05/29/76 Dallas Mavericks / Kansas '98 Shawn Marion F 6-7 215 05/07/78 Phoenix Suns / UNLV '99 Andre Miller G 6-2 200 03/19/76 Los Angeles Clippers / Utah '99 Reggie Miller G 6-7 195 09/24/65 Indiana Pacers / UCLA '87 Jermaine O'Neal C/F 6-11 242 10/13/78 Indiana Pacers / Eau Claire High School (SC) '96 Paul Pierce F 6-6 230 10/13/77 Boston Celtics / Kansas '98 Ben Wallace F 6-9 240 09/10/74 Detroit Pistons / Virginia Union '96 Jay Williams G 6-2 195 09/10/81 Chicago Bulls / Duke '02
ALTERNATE Nick Collison F 6-9 250 10/26/80 Kansas '03Head Coach: George Karl, Milwaukee Bucks Assistant Coach: Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs Assistant Coach: Mike Montgomery, Stanford University Assistant Coach: Kelvin Sampson, University of Oklahoma Team Physician: Sanford Kunkel, Indiana Pacers Athletic Trainer: Jim Gillen, Denver Nuggets Athletic Trainer: Troy Wenzel, Milwaukee Bucks
