June 4, 2001

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - On Sunday, June 3, the USA Basketball's 10-member Men's Collegiate Committee announced the 16 finalists for the 2001 USA Basketball World Championship For Young Men Team that included Marshall University senior guard Tamar Slay. The team was announced following four training sessions at the June 1-3 USA Basketball Men's Trials in Colorado Springs, CO.

"This is a great opportunity for me to play against some of college basketball's best players," Slay said. "I'm very excited about the next training camp. I just hope I can continue to develop, play well and earn a spot on the final team to represent the United States in Japan."

The final 12-member USA team will be named during the team's July 22-26 training camp in Dallas, TX. The team will complete its training in the U.S. July 27-30 in Oakland, CA.

The USA World Championship for Young Men Team will compete August 3-12 in Saitama, Japan, in the 2001 FIBA World Championship for Young Men Tournament. Featuring 12 teams that have been divided into two preliminary round pools consisting of six teams each, the United States is in Pool B with Argentina, Croatia, Israel, Japan and South Korea. The six teams comprising preliminary Pool A include Australia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Qatar, Slovenia and Spain.

Slay, a 6-9 senior guard, has scored 1,225 points in his career for an average of 14.6 per game. As a sophomore Slay led the MAC in scoring with 19.9 points per game en route to earning First-Team All-MAC honors. Last season, as a junior, Slay scored 17.3 points per game and increased his rebounding to 5.4 per game and earned Second-Team All-MAC laurels. The Beckley, WV, native was the only MAC player invited to the trials.

"Because of where I'm from (the Mid-American Conference), I don't get to play against these guys," Slay said. "So coming out here and seeing all these guys who I see on TV all the time and getting the opportunity to play against them was a great experience."

Jim Boeheim, Syracuse's successful and long-time head coach, will serve as head coach of the 2001 USA World Championship for Young Men squad, and he will be assisted by Ernie Kent of the University of Oregon and Phil Martelli of St. Joseph's University (PA).

"We had a very good talent level here. Particularly perimeter guys, players that can get to the basket and make shots and that's important in international competition. So I'm excited about this team," remarked Boeheim. "I think we really do have a team that can go over and represent our country. This championship is very tough every four years and we'll see the best in the world in this age bracket and it will be a challenge for us."

"When USA Basketball goes to play in any championship, there's really only one medal you're looking at - the gold medal," added Boeheim of the expectations for his team.

2001 USA World University Games Team Finalists