Haith Selected as an Assistant for USA Basketball World University Games Team
June 1, 2009
CORAL GABLES, FLA. – Collegiate head coaches Frank Haith of the University of Miami and Rob Jeter of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have been selected to assist 2009 USA Basketball World University Games Team head coach Bo Ryan (Wisconsin) this summer, USA Basketball announced today.
The U.S. will look to capture the gold medal at the 24th World University Games, July 2-12 in Belgrade, Serbia. Coaching staff selections were made by the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee, chaired by Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim.
“I’m looking forward to working with both of these guys,” said Ryan. “I know Frank’s coached with some really good people at Wake and at Texas. The fact that he’s running his own program now, he’s made the NCAA Tournament and the NIT, just shows he’s arrived on the coaching scene. He’s done a great job at Miami. I had the chance to see his team play. We were in St. Thomas together this year, and I was very impressed with how hard his guys play. He’s coached some really good players over the years and brings a lot of knowledge of different types of systems. I’m sure he’ll be a great asset for us as we try to bring home the gold.
“Having coach Jeter will help because he knows me probably better than anyone. He played for our first national championship team at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He also coached with me at Platteville, he coached with me at UWM and he coached with me here at Wisconsin. At Milwaukee he’s been to the NCAA Tournament and won a conference championship. He’s also someone who has had a chance to coach in different leagues and at different levels. He’s coached some really good players at UWM and some really good non-scholarship players at Platteville who could have played at the Division I level. A lot of those guys developed as a result of the job that he did as a coach. I know his strengths and the fact that he knows what I like to have done will help us in the short period of time that we have to prepare.”
“It is a tremendous honor to be a part of USA Basketball and to have the opportunity to represent our country,” said Haith. “I have a great amount of respect for Bo Ryan – he is just awesome. I’m looking forward to working with Bo, Rob and these talented young players.”
The World University Games are held every other year and are organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
Training camp to select the USA World University Games Team will be held June 16-25 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Players eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens, born between Jan. 1, 1985 and Dec. 31, 1991, who are currently enrolled as a full-time collegiate student with remaining eligibility for the 2009-10 school year. Following the selection of finalists, the Americans will continue to train June 19-28 in Colorado Springs, Colo. before departing for Serbia.
Accepting invitations to attend the USA training camp were: James Anderson (Oklahoma State / Junction City, Ark.); Talor Battle (Penn State / Albany, N.Y.); Trevor Booker (Clemson / Whitmire, S.C.); Craig Brackins (Iowa State / Palmdale, Calif.); Da’Sean Butler (West Virginia / Newark, N.J.); Sherron Collins (Kansas / Chicago, Ill.); Mike Davis (Illinois / Alexandria, Va.); Corey Fisher (Villanova / Bronx, N.Y.); Lazar Hayward (Marquette / Buffalo, N.Y.); Robbie Hummel (Purdue / Valparaiso, Ind.); JaJuan Johnson (Purdue / Indianapolis, Ind.); Dominique Jones (USF / Lake Wales, Fla.); Quincy Pondexter (Washington / Fresno, Calif.); Deon Thompson (North Carolina / Torrance, Calif.); Evan Turner (Ohio State / Chicago, Ill.); and Jarvis Varnado (Mississippi State / Brownsville, Tenn.).
The United States, which has claimed a medal in every World University Games men’s basketball competition since beginning play in 1965, has captured a record 13 gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals in the 18 WUGs in which a USA Basketball squad has competed. The U.S., which owns a 125-7 won-loss record in World University Games play, captured six of the first seven gold medals awarded in World University Games competition and strung together six consecutive gold medals from 1989 through 1999.
USA Basketball did not field a team in 2007 for the World University Games, however, the 2005 USA squad rolled to an 8-0 record to capture the gold medal in Izmir, Turkey. Duke forward Sheldon Williams, Boston College’s Craig Smith, Villanova’s Randy Foye and Minnesota’s Vincent Grier averaged double digit scoring to lead the U.S.
Eighteen players who have represented the USA in the World University Games have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games, including Ray Allen, Stacey Augmon, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Bill Bradley, Quinn Buckner, Tom Burleson, Ken Davis, Tim Duncan, Phil Hubbard, Allen Iverson, Mitch Kupchak, Karl Malone, Michael Redd, Mitch Richmond, Michael Silliman, Steve Smith and Jo Jo White.
