Michigan State University Athletics
Valentine Invited To USA Basketball Training Camp
6/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Michigan State senior guard Denzel Valentine is one of 22 players to accept an invitation to take part in the 2015 U.S Pan American Men's Basketball Team training camp. The training camp will be used to select the 12 players who will represent the United States at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.
The USA training camp will be held July 7-12 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the U.S. team will train July 13-16 at the Chicago Bulls practice facility.
The 2015 Pan American Games men's basketball competition will take place July 21-25 in Toronto. The U.S. men have been placed into Group A and will play all three of its preliminary round games at 9 p.m. EDT, including Venezuela on July 21, Puerto Rico on July 22 and Brazil on July 23. Competing in Group B will be Argentina, Canada, Dominican Republic and Mexico.
As a junior, Valentine earned Third-Team All-Big Ten honors, while being named Co-Team MVP as voted on by the media. Known for his versatility, he was the only player in the Big Ten to rank in the Top 15 in scoring (12th, 14.5 ppg), rebounding (11th, 6.3 rpg) and assists (7th, 4.3 apg) in 2014-15. He ranked second on the Spartans in scoring, rebounding, and assists as was the only Spartan to start all 39 games. In the postseason, he earned a spot on the NCAA East Regional All-Tournament Team, helping MSU advance to the 2015 Final Four.
Valentine joins a mix of 16 current collegians, five players who have most recently played professionally overseas, and one player who played in the NBA in 2014-15. Athletes expected to attend the U.S. Pan American Men's Basketball Team training camp include Ron Baker (Wichita State/Scott City, Kan.); Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia/Atlanta, Ga.); Bobby Brown (Dongguan Leopards, China/Los Angeles, Calif.); Isaiah Cousins (Oklahoma/Mount Vernon, N.Y.); Micah Downs (Avtodor Saratov, Russia/Bothell, Wash.); Kellen Dunham (Butler/Pendleton, Ind.); Rico Gathers (Baylor/LaPlace, La.); Isaac Haas (Purdue/Hokes Bluff, Ala.); Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin/Toledo, Ohio); Malcolm Hill (Illinois/Fairview Heights, Ill.); Ryan Hollins (Sacramento Kings/Pasadena, Calif.); Keith Langford (UNICS Kazan, Russia/Fort Worth, Texas); Shawn Long (Louisiana/Morgan City, La.); Monte' Morris (Iowa State/Flint, Mich.); Taurean Prince (Baylor/San Antonio, Texas); Anthony Randolph (Lokomotiv-Kuban, Russia/Pasadena, Calif.); Joshua Scott (Colorado/Monument, Colo.); Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona/Claremont, N.H.); Melo Trimble (Maryland/Upper Marlboro, Md.); Denzel Valentine (Michigan State/Lansing, Mich.); Fred Van Vleet (Wichita State/Rockford, Ill.); and Damien Wilkins (Indios de Mayagüez, Puerto Rico/Orlando, Fla.).
Mark Few of Gonzaga University will serve as head coach of the 2015 U.S. Pan American Men's Basketball Team, and University of Colorado's Tad Boyle and longtime NBA coach Mike Brown were selected as assistant coaches. The training camp will also feature a trio of court coaches, including Jason Flanigan (Holmes Community College), Ron Hunter (Georgia State) and Mark Turgeon (Maryland).
