World University Games 2011 -- USA Announces First Cut

The First Cut is the Deepest...
USA Basketball modified their World University roster yesterday as the staff added Shabazz Napier from Connecticut (Tu Holloway of Xavier declined an invitation to tryout) and then trimmed the roster to 14, sending home eight players from eight schools (and four conferences). Players the Turk visited over the weekend included, Brad Burgess, a tall guard from the Virginia Commonwealth (CAA) that ran to the Final Four in April, Kim English, another guard from Missouri in the Big 12, Yancy Gates a bfc out of Cincinnati in the Big East, Kris Middleton from Texas A&M (Big 12), Tony Mitchell (forward) from Alabama (SEC), Northwestern forward John Shurna (Big Ten) and Jordan Taylor, a guard out of Wisconsin (Big Ten).

The Current Roster
As of August 1, the 12 who will continue to train in Colorado Springs include...

Name	Pos	Hgt	Wgt	School
Tim Abromaitis	F/C	6-8	235	Notre Dame
Marcus Denmon	G	6-3	185	Missouri
Ashton Gibbs	G	6-2	190	Pittsburgh
Draymond Green	F	6-7	230	Michigan State
JaMychal Green	F	6-8	225	Alabama
Scoop Jardine	G	6-2	190	Syracuse
John Jenkins	G	6-4	220	Vanderbilt
Orlando Johnson	G	6-5	205	UC Santa Barbara
Greg Mangano	F	6-10	240	Yale
Trevor Mbakwe	F/C	6-8	241	Minnesota
Ray McCallum	G	6-1	185	Detroit Mercy
Darius Miller	G	6-7	185	Kentucky
Aaric Murray	C	6-11	265	West Virginia
Shabazz Napier	G	6-0	170	Connecticut

Notable among the Big East survivors, Tim Abromaitis from Notre Dame, Ashton Gibbs from Pitt who led the U19 USA team to a championship in 2010, Shabazz Napier from Connecticut who was added at the last minute and La Salle ex-pat Aaric Murray who will sit for a season before lacing it up for West Virginia.

Next?
The team will continue two-a-days at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado through August 7. The last two cuts will come via an announcement of the official roster just before the team departs for China on August 8.