July 17, 2007
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Vanderbilt rising senior Shan Foster has been named to the 12-member USA Basketball team competing at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil July 25-29 the organization announced on Tuesday.
The swingman from Kenner, La., was the only player from the Southeastern Conference named to the elite team, joining Joey Dorsey (Memphis / Baltimore, Md.); Wayne Ellington (North Carolina / Wynnewood, Pa.); James Gist (Maryland / Silver Spring, Md.); Roy Hibbert (Georgetown / Adelphi, Md.); Maarty Leunen (Oregon / Redmond, Ore.); Derrick Low (Washington State / Honolulu, Hawaii); Eric Maynor (Virginia Commonwealth / Fayetteville, N.C.); Drew Neitzel (Michigan State / Grand Rapids, Mich.); Scottie Reynolds (Villanova / Herndon, Va.); Kyle Weaver (Washington State / Beloit, Wis.); and D.J. White (Indiana / Tuscaloosa, Ala.).
The player selections were made after USA Basketball conducted five trials sessions between July 12-14 and four practices between July 15-17 at Haverford College (Pa.).
“It’s a great honor to represent your country,” Foster said. “It’s been a tough and competitive process. There were a lot of talented players that didn’t make the squad. I’m just looking to contribute any way I can.”
“This was as difficult of a decision as any I’ve been involved in with USA Basketball. Every kid here could play on this team and we would be proud to take them to Brazil. We just had to decide do we want to play with some extra guards and some extra bigs and maybe not as many wings, and that’s really what it came down to,” stated USA and Villanova University head coach Jay Wright.
University of Alabama head mentor Mark Gottfried and Yale University head coach James Jones will serve as assistant coaches to Wright.
The USA Pan American Games team will continue training through July 18 at Haverford College (Pa.) before traveling to Washington D.C. for three final days of workouts July 19-21.
The United States has been placed in preliminary round Group A along with Argentina, Panama and Uruguay. Group B consists of Brazil, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The U.S. opens preliminary play July 25 facing Uruguay (10 p.m. Rio de Janeiro local time), then meets Panama on July 26 (7:45 p.m. Rio de Janeiro local time). The U.S. closes out preliminary round action against Argentina on July 27 (7:45 p.m. Rio de Janeiro local time). Semifinals will be held on July 28 and the finals will be played July 29.
Foster will rank as the third-leading returning scorer in the SEC this coming season after averaging 15.6 points during the 2006-07 campaign.
Foster has been named All-SEC each of his three year at Vanderbilt. He was named Second Team All-SEC as a junior, finishing among the league leaders in 3-pointers per game (ninth at 2.18), field goal shooting (11th at 44.9 percent) and 3-point shooting (14th at 34.6 percent). He helped lead the Commodores to a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament highlighting a 22-12 season and second-place finish in the SEC Eastern Division.
