May 15, 2003

WACO, Texas - Baylor forward Lawrence Roberts has accepted an invitation to participate in the 2003 USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials May 30-June 1 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Basketball announced Thursday.

"We are very excited for Lawrence because we know how hard he has worked to be included among the best basketball players in America," Baylor head coach Dave Bliss said.

Roberts, who will be a junior next season at Baylor, is one of 52 invitees, 28 of which are trying out for the 2003 USA Pan American Games Team. The other 24 players aged 19 and younger are eligible for both the 2003 USA Basketball Junior World Championship Team and the Pan Am Games Team.

In 2002-2003 Roberts led the Big 12 Conference with 10 double-doubles in league games and was the leading rebounder in conference games (11.4 per game). He was named All-Big 12 for the second consecutive year after averaging 15.2 points and 10.4 rebounds, one of three Big 12 players to average a double-double on the season. In 2001-2002 Roberts set the Big 12 freshman scoring record with 498 points en route to being named a freshman All-American and to the Big 12 All-Freshman team.

Roberts is one of seven Big 12 student-athletes at the trials, six of whom are eligible only for the Pan Am Games Team. Roberts is also among seven Texas natives and nine rising juniors at the tryouts.

The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics, will be held Aug. 1-17, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The men's basketball competition is slated for Aug. 2-6. The eight-team field is not yet known. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo will direct the USA team, and his assistants are Washington's Lorenzo Romar and Missouri's Quin Snyder.

Fifty-two of the top college and high school basketball players were invited to the trials, based on selection by the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee chaired by Terry Holland, former Virginia athletics director. The remainder of the committee includes: NCAA appointees Jim Boeheim (head coach, Syracuse); Rob Evans (head coach, Arizona State); Jim O'Brien (head coach, Ohio State) and Tubby Smith (head coach, Kentucky); NABC appointee Oliver Purnell (head coach, Clemson); NAIA appointee Ralph Turner (head coach, Union); NJCAA appointee Dan Sparks (head coach, Vincennes), and athlete representatives Steve Wojciechowski (1995 Junior World Championship team / assistant coach, Duke) and A.J. Wynder (1995 Pan American Games team / head coach, Nassau CC).

2003 USA BASKETBALL MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM TRIALS ROSTER
Mohamed Abukar, Rancho Bernardo High School
Maurice Ager, Michigan State
DeAngelo Alexander, Oklahoma
James Augustine, Illinois
*Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky
*Kevin Bookout, Oklahoma
*Timmy Bowers, Mississippi State
Brandon Bowman, Georgetown
Daniel Brown, Illinois
Graham Brown, Michigan
Derrick Byars, Virginia
*Josh Childress, Stanford
Keydren Clark, St. Peters
Paul Davis, Michigan State
*Ike Diogu, Arizona State
*Chris Duhon, Duke
*Daniel Ewing, Duke
*Desmon Farmer, USC
*Gerald Fitch, Kentucky
*Torin Francis, Notre Dame
*Tim Frost, Utah
*Channing Frye, Arizona
Daniel Gibson, Jones High School
*Ben Gordon, Connecticut
Ivan Harris, Oak Hill Academy
*David Harrison, Colorado
*Chris Hill, Michigan State
*Julius Hodge, North Carolina State
Ryan Hollins, UCLA
Daniel Horton, Michigan
*Luke Jackson, Oregon
Al Jefferson, Prentiss High School
*Arthur Johnson, Missouri
Brian Johnson, Bishop O'Connell High School
*Gerry McNamara, Syracuse
Jonathan Modica, Arkansas
*Brandon Mouton, Texas
*Matt Nelson, Colorado State
Steve Novak, Marquette
*Emeka Okafor, Connecticut
*Ricky Paulding, Missouri
Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia
J.J. Redick, Duke
*Lawrence Roberts, Baylor
*Craig Smith, Boston College
*Marcellus Sommerville, Southwestern Illinois College
*Blake Stepp, Gonzaga
Alando Tucker, Wisconsin
C.J. Watson, Tennessee
Deron Williams, Illinois
*Shelden Williams, Duke
Kennedy Winston, Alabama

* Because of his age, player is only eligible for the USA Pan American Games Team