USA - Saric headlines World Team for Hoop Summit

COLORADO SPRINGS (Nike Hoop Summit) - Dario Saric, one of the stars at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship in Latvia, will take part in his second Nike Hoop Summit as part of the World Select Team.

USA Basketball announced the 11-man international for the highly-anticipated annual event which will take place on April 7 at Portland’s Rose Garden, and Canadian coach Roy Rana’s team can count on players from nine different countries and representing all five continents (North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa).

“It is an incredible honor to lead the World Team once again in the 2012 Hoop Summit,” said Rana, who is coaching the world team for a second time and is assisted by Serbian Marin Sedlacek, making his 12th Hoop Summit showing.

“The Hoop Summit is one of the premier events on the global basketball calendar and I’m looking forward to another competitive battle against a very talented USA team.”

One of the premier talents of the World team is Saric, who starred for Croatia last summer in Riga and turns 18 one day after this year’s Summit.

A gold medalist at the U16 European Championship in 2010, he helped KK Zagreb to the 2011 Nike International Junior Tournament (NIJT) title as MVP – with a triple-double in the final – and has his team back into this May’s NIJT finals.

Saric had seven points and six rebounds in last year’s Summit, which the U.S. team won 92-80 to improve their all-time record to 11-3 with nine wins in the last 10 showdowns.

Saric is not the only European returning from the 2011 Nike showcase as France’s Evan Fournier also took part, finishing with six points and six boards.

Saric and Fournier are the eighth and ninth players making an encore showing at the Nike Hoop Summit, following Jovo Stanojevic (1995, 1996) Yugoslavia; Aleksandr Bashminov (1996, 1997) Russia; Matthew Nielsen (1997, 1998) Australia; Antonis Fotsis (1998, 1999), Greece; Olumide Oyedeji (1999, 2000) Nigeria; Bostjan Nachbar (1999, 2000) Slovenia; and Alexis Ajinca (2008, 2007).

Joining Fournier as a second Frenchman is Leo Westerman, who captured silver at the 2009 U18 European Championship. This is the third time two France players are named to the World team following 2007 (Ajinca and Nicolas Batum) and 2009 (Kevin Seraphin and Edwin Jackson).

Also representing Europe at the event will be Serbian Aleksandar Cvetkovic, a veteran of both the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship and 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship, the latter where he won the silver medal and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

The 2011 U19 Worlds bronze medalist and All-Tournament Team member Dmitry Kulagin is the first Russian player named to the team since Artur Urazmanov in 2006; while Michal Michalak played for Poland at both the 2010 U17 Worlds and 2011 U19 Worlds along with 2011 Nike Hoop Summit participants Przemyslaw Karnowski and Mateusz Ponitka.

Coach Rana will have two players he knows very well as U.S.-based Canadians Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins were included in the World squad – the third straight year with two Canadians.

Bennett and Wiggins were two of Canada’s big stars for Rana when the team captured the bronze medal at the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship in France.

The World team’s centers are from three other continents.

Marcos Delia was chosen for the game after playing for Argentina at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Wang Zhelin played for China at both the 2010 U17 Worlds and 2011 U19 Worlds and is the eighth World Select Team member from China. This is the fourth straight year a Chinese player has been selected to play in the game.

The other player is Patson Siame, the first Nike Hoop Summit player from Zambia, who came to the attention of scouts with his performance at the 2011 Basketball Without Borders showcase in South Africa.

A number of World Select Team alumni are currently playing in the NBA, including Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Luis Scola (Houston Rockets), Nicolas Batum (Portland Trail Blazers), Andrea Bargnani (Toronto Raptors), Serge Ibaka (Oklahoma City Thunder), Enes Kanter (Utah Jazz), Yi Jianlian (Dallas Mavericks) and Bismack Biyombo (Charlotte Bobcats), who had a triple-double in last year's Nike Hoop Summit.

The World Select Team is assembled by Nike’s consultant of global basketball, Rich Sheubrooks, after consultation with general managers, clubs, federations, scouts and coaches from all over the globe.

The USA's Junior National Select Team was named earlier this month.

2012 WORLD SELECT TEAM (to compete in 2012 Nike Hoop Summit, 7 April 2012 at the Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon, USA):
Anthony Bennett (6ft 8in/2.04m, Canada, Findlay College Prep, Nevada)
Aleksandar Cvetkovic (6ft 3in/1.91m, Serbia, BC Crvena Zcezda DIVA)
Marcos Delia (6ft 9in/2.06m, Argentina, Boca Juniors)
Evan Fournier (6ft 6in/1.98m, France, Union Poitiers Basket 86)
Dmitry Kulagin (6ft 6in/1.98m, Russia, BC Triumph Lyubertsy)
Michal Michalak (6ft 6in/1.98m, Poland, Lodz)
Dario Saric (6ft 9in/2.06m, Croatia, KK Zagreb Croatia Osiguranje)
Patson Siame (6ft 10in/2.09m, Zambia)
Leo Westermann (6ft 5in/1.95m, France, Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne)
Andrew Wiggins (6ft 6in/1.98m, Canada, Huntingdon Prep, West Virginia)
Wang Zhelin (7ft 0in/2.13m, China, Fujian SBS Xunxin)

FIBA