Morrison named to Team USA
Regardless of whether he decides to forego his senior season at Gonzaga and declare for this summer’s NBA Draft, Adam Morrison will be playing with the pros in the near future.
The Bulldogs’ 6-foot-8 junior forward was one of only two collegians named Sunday to the 23-player 2006-08 USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team, which will stock the country’s 2008 Olympic team.
Morrison and Duke’s J.J. Redick will join 21 NBA standouts, including Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, in competing for spots on the USA team, which will make its debut in this summer’s FIBA World Championships.
“It’s an honor to be able to hopefully make the team and represent our country,” Morrison said after scoring 24 points in Sunday’s 96-92 win over San Diego in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament. “I’m just going to go in there and play as hard as I can and see what happens.”
Gonzaga coach Mark Few called Morrison’s honor “one of the highest” you can receive as a college player.
“What a great thing for Adam, and what a great thing for our program,” Few said of his pre-season all-American and WCC player of the year. “He’s basically on a team with Kobe and LeBron, and he’ll be with them for three years now.
“That group stays together until the Olympics. I’m happy for Adam and J.J. They deserve it.”
Morrison admitted to being a bit intimidated when he saw the list of his USA teammates, which also includes Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, Dwayne Wade and Amare Stoudemire among its NBA stars.
“Obviously, I’m going in there with a positive mindset,” he explained, “but I’m not going in thinking I’m going to take all the shots. That’s the way basketball works. If you want to get better, the competition goes up at every level you do to. And I aspire to be an NBA player.”
In a teleconference held Sunday morning to announce the team, managing director Jerry Colangelo said he thought the 23 players selected to participate will give USA Basketball “everything we need to form a great USA team.”
“We feel we have versatility, shooters, size, quickness, role players and defensive stoppers,” he added. “In making the player selections, we took into consideration the style of play anticipated to be used by the coaching staff.”
The 2006-08 team will coached by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.
“They’re both great scorers,” Krzyzewski told the Associated Press of Morrison and Redick. “I think some collegiate players going into this type of situation would be a little bit intimidated. I don’t think either one of these guys will.”
Morrison is the first active WCC player to be named to the senior team, but three others – Gonzaga’s John Stockton and San Francisco’s Bill Russell and K.C. Jones – have played on the USA Olympic Team.
Players will attend training camp in Las Vegas in July, then travel to China and South Korea for exhibition games before a 12-man roster is selected for the world championships in August in Japan.
A training camp in 2007 – and possibly regional Olympic qualifying – will be followed by more exhibition games in 2008.
Colangelo required a three-year commitment from players in an effort to provide more continuity and keep up with improving international teams.