Northwestern University Athletics
Shurna Invited to USA Basketball World University Games Team Training Camp
6/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 8, 2011
2011 USA Basketball World University Games Invitees (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern rising senior forward John Shurna (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) has accepted an invitation to attend the 2011 USA Basketball Men's World University Games Team training camp.
He is one of 22 invitees who will attend the camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., from July 29-Aug. 7. The camp will be used to select the 12-member team that will represent the USA at the 2011 World University Games men's basketball competition Aug. 13-23 in Shenzhen, China.
Shurna is one of four players from the Big Ten Conference invited to the tryouts, joining Michigan State's Draymond Green, Minnesota's Trevor Mbakwe and Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor.
This is the third straight year that Shurna has competed for USA Basketball. He is one of three players at this year's camp (Pittsburgh's Aston Gibbs, Kentucky's Darius Miller) who helped the USA to a gold medal and a 9-0 record at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship. Shurna and Syracuse's Scoop Jardine are the two individuals invited who were members of the USA Select Team that trained against the USA Men's National Team in 2010 in Las Vegas.
A second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2009-10, Shurna battled through injuries to earn third-team honors last season. He averaged a team-best 16.6 points per game during the 2010-11 campaign, led Northwestern to a school-record 20 wins for the second consecutive season and also a berth in the quarterfinal round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
Purdue University head coach Matt Painter, who previously assisted the 2009 USA U19 World Championship Team to a gold medal, has been selected as head coach of the 2011 USA Men's World University Games Team, while collegiate head coaches Cuonzo Martin of the University of Tennessee and Brad Stevens of Butler University were named as assistant coaches.
The USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee, chaired by NCAA representative Jim Boeheim (head coach, Syracuse University), is expected on July 31 to announce finalists for the 2011 USA World University Games Team. Training camp will continue July 31-Aug. 7 at the USOTC, with the official roster being announced prior to the teams' departure for China on Aug. 8.
In addition to Boeheim, the 2009-12 USA Basketball Men's Junior National Committee includes NCAA appointees Lorenzo Romar (head coach, University of Washington), Bruce Weber (head coach, University of Illinois) and Roy Williams (head coach, University of North Carolina); and athlete representative Jay Williams, a member of the 2002 USA World Championship Team.
World University Games
The World University Games are held every other year and are organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The World University Games is a multi-sport competition open to men and women who are between the ages of 17 and 24 (born between Jan. 1, 1987 and Dec. 31, 1993), who are or have been within the past year, a student at a college or university.
The United States, which has claimed a medal in every World University Games since beginning play in 1965, has captured a record 13 golds, three silvers and three bronze medals in the 19 WUGs in which a USA Basketball men's squad has competed. Overall, the USA owns a 131-8 won-loss record in World University Games play.
The United States captured six of the first seven gold medals awarded in World University Games competition and strung together six consecutive gold medals from 1989 through 1999. Most recently, the 2009 USA team earned the bronze medal after finishing 6-1 and suffering a one-point loss to Russia in the semifinals.
2011 USA Men's World University Games Team Training Camp Roster
Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame
Bradford Burgess, VCU
Marcus Denmon, Missouri
Kim English, Missouri
Yancy Gates, Cincinnati
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
Draymond Green, Michigan State
JaMychal Green, Alabama
Tu Holloway, Xavier
Scoop Jardine, Syracuse
John Jenkins, Vanderbilt
Orlando Johnson, UC-Santa Barbara
Greg Mangano, Yale
Trevor Mbakwe, Minnesota
C.J. McCollum, Lehigh
Khris Middleton, Texas A&M
Darius Miller, Kentucky
Tony Mitchell, Alabama
Aaric Murray, West Virginia
Alex Oriakhi, Connecticut
John Shurna, Northwestern
Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin
Head Coach: Matt Painter, Purdue
Assistant Coaches: Cuonzo Martin, Tennessee; Brad Stevens, Butler
Team Physician: Brock Schnebel, Oklahoma
Athletic Trainer: Anthony Goenaga, New York Knicks
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