University of Tennessee Athletics
Watson to Compete For Spot on USA Basketball Squad
June 10, 2004 | Men's Basketball
June 10, 2004
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Tennessee's C.J. Watson is among 18 players with previous USA Basketball experience who are among the 24 athletes who will vie for positions on the 2004 USA Basketball World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team, USA Basketball announced today.
Watson, who enters his junior season at Tennessee this fall, played a key role on last year's USA Basketball Junior team. Last season Watson led the Vols in assists, averaging 5.0 per game to rank second in the Southeastern Conference. He ranked third on the team in scoring (11.5) and paced the Vols in three-point field goal percentage (.411) during the 2003-04 campaign.
Other members from last year's USA Basketball Junior team that will complete next month for a spot on the 2004 team include Maurice Ager (Michigan State), Dee Brown (Illinois) , Ryan Hollins (UCLA), J.J. Redick (Duke), Mustafa Shakur (Arizona), C.J. Watson (Tennessee), and Deron Williams (Illinois),
Chaired by former University of Virginia Athletic Director Terry Holland, the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee selected the invitees and will make the final roster cuts at the 2004 USA National Team Trials and training camp July 16-23 in East Rutherford, N.J. Athletes eligible for selection to this age-based team include any male who is a U.S. citizen and is 20-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1984).
Guiding the U.S. squad will be University of Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson, who will be assisted by collegiate head coaches Tom Crean of Marquette University (Wis.) and Dan Monson of the University of Minnesota.
Finalists for the USA Team will be selected following trials July 16-18 at the New Jersey Nets practice facility in East Rutherford. The USA Trials schedule will see the candidates competing twice a day, at 10 a.m. (all times local) and 5 p.m. Finalists will remain in New Jersey for the team's training camp, which will again feature two-a-days at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., and the eventual 12-member squad will be finalized sometime prior to the USA's final New Jersey practice at 10 a.m. on July 23.
The World Championship For Young Men and its zone qualifying tournaments are held every four years. Originally held in 1993 and known as the FIBA 22 And Under World Championship, it was designed for men 22-years-old or younger. FIBA lowered the age eligibility to 21-years-old or younger in December 1998 and changed the competition name to the World Championship For Young Men. The USA has qualified for all three previous World Championship For Young Men tournaments and has compiled a 22-2 overall record while winning gold medals in 1993 and 2001. United States squads have also compiled a 15-2 win-loss record in the three Young Men Qualifiers, winning gold in 1996 and silver in 2000 and 1993.
