USA - World select team announced for 2008 Nike Hoop Summit

COLORADO SPRINGS (2008 Nike Hopp Summit) - The 2008 World Select Team was announced today for the 2008 Nike Hoop Summit, the premier annual basketball game featuring many of the world's leading basketball players aged 19 years or younger. The 11th Annual Nike Hoop Summit will be played at the Rose Garden, in Portland, Ore., on Saturday, April 12, 2008, in a 1 p.m. (PDT) nationally televised game on Fox Sports Net.

The game, which sees America's top senior high school players taking on a World Select Team comprised of the world's top players, has been staged on ten previous occasions and has given an extraordinary number of talented young players the chance to showcase their abilities.

This year's version promises to be no different, with the World Select naming a roster full of players with a great deal of experience in international basketball and featuring 11 players from 11 countries across four continents.

The '08 World roster features four guards in 6'0" Diego Gerbaudo (Real Madrid / Argentina), 6'3" Devoe Joseph (Pickering H.S., Ontario / Canada), 6'4" Zygimantas Janavicius (Zalgiris Kaunas / Lithuania) and 6'6" Aleksandr Kolchenko (BC Khimik / Ukraine).

The World Team also features five forwards, including 6'6" Emmanuel Negedu (Brewster Academy, N.H. / Nigeria), 6'8" Samardo Samuels (St Benedict's Prep, N.J. / Jamaica), 6'10" Serge Ibaka (CB Hospitalet (Spain) / Congo), 6'10" Angel Garcia (East Chicago Central H.S. / Puerto Rico) and 6'11" Tim Ohlbrecht (Bamberg / Germany).

The World roster is rounded off with a pair of centers, 7'1" Alexis Ajinca (Heyers-Toulon / France), who returns from the 2007 roster, and 7'4" Boban Marjanovic (Hemofarm / Serbia).

Tickets are now on sale for the 2008 Nike Hoop Summit, with reserved courtside seats priced $25-$50 and all other lower bowl tickets $10. Tickets can be purchased through the Rose Quarter Ticket Office, by calling 877-789-ROSE (7673) or by visiting www.rosequarter.com.

All four of the World Team members who play at the high school level are ranked among the top 82 prep prospects by Rivals.com and have signed with top NCAA Division I programs. Samuels is ranked #7 by Rivals.com and has signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Louisville, Garcia is ranked #27 by Rivals.com and has signed to attend the University of Memphis, Negedu is ranked #31 by Rivals.com and has signed with the University of Arizona, and Joseph is ranked #82 and has signed to play at the University of Minnesota.

Seven World Team members were members of national teams that competed last summer in the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship. Ajinca (7.4 ppg., 5.6 rpg., and a tournament high 24 blocked shots for France), Garcia (13.8 ppg. and 7.8 rpg. for Puerto Rico), Gerbaudo (9.1 ppg., 2.6 rpg., and 4.4 apg. for Argentina), Janavicius (10.1 ppg., 3.5 rpg., and a tournament high 6.6 apg. for Lithuania), Joseph (22.6 ppg., 5.8 rpg., and 3.4 apg. for Canada), Marjanovic (8.4 ppg., 6.6 rpg. and 62.2 percent from the field for Serbia) and Negedu (17.2 ppg. and 8.6 rpg. for Nigeria) all represented their country in the U19 Worlds. Marjanovic helped lead Serbia to the gold medal at the U19 World Championship, while Ajinca aided France to the bronze medal

USA Basketball