Complete coverage of Ray's journey at USA Basketball

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-- Sophomore-to-be Ray McCallum found out late Wednesday night that he was part of the final 12-man roster for USA Basketball's World University Games team.  The squad will have continued training in Colorado Springs, Colo. before embarking to China on Aug. 8 to begin competition.  

McCallum, who is the youngest athlete on the US squad, was a late addition to the original invitees to the training camp, but impressed coaches while he was there.  The Horizon League Newcomer of the Year will join 11 other collegiate players in the hopes of earning the United States its 14th medal in these competitions.

Listed on the roster are: Tim Abromaitis (Notre Dame/Unionville, Conn.); Marcus Denmon (Missouri/Kansas City, Mo.); Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh/Scotch Plains, N.J.); Draymond Green (Michigan State/Saginaw, Mich.); JaMychal Green (Alabama/Montgomery, Ala.); Scoop Jardine (Syracuse/ Philadelphia, Pa.); John Jenkins (Vanderbilt/ Hendersonville, Tenn.); Orlando Johnson (UC Santa Barbara/Seaside, Calif.); Greg Mangano (Yale/Orange, Conn.); Trevor Mbakwe (Minnesota/ St. Paul, Minn.); Ray McCallum (Detroit Mercy/Beverly Hills, Mich.); and Darius Miller (Kentucky/Maysville, Ky.).

"I think your strengths are going to come out in competition, and we have some very good players," said USA and Purdue University head mentor Matt Painter , who previously assisted the 2009 USA U19 World Championship Team to a gold medal. "I think we have some good point-guard play, some good, athletic wings that can shoot the basketball and then we have some good interior strength. So, I think we have balance. We do have some interchangeable parts, some guys at the three and four positions that can swing either way. We can play smaller and we can play bigger. It will depend on who we are playing against. I do think we can play a couple of different ways, and that's always a positive."

Cuonzo Martin of the University of Tennessee and Brad Stevens of Butler University are serving as assistant coaches for the 2011 USA Men's World University Games Team.

The USA will play an exhibition contest against New Century, a Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) professional team, in Huizho, China, on Aug. 11, before opening World University Games play on Aug. 13.

In all, 24 countries will compete in the international competition. The USA has been slotted into Pool D, along with Finland, Hungary, Israel, Mexico and South Korea. The red, white and blue will open play against Mexico at 6 p.m. on Aug. 13 (all times listed are China Standard Time, which is +12 hours from Eastern Time) and will then play Hungary at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 14; South Korea at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 15; Finland at 6 p.m. on Aug. 17; and Israel at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 18.

Following the preliminary round, the top two placed teams from each pool will advance to the medal quarterfinals, which will be contested on Aug. 20. The semifinals are scheduled for Aug. 21, and the finals will be played on Aug. 22.

Four players possess prior USA Basketball experience. Jardine was a member of the USA Select Team that trained against the 2010 USA Men's National Team in Las Vegas, Nev. Gibbs and Miller helped the USA to a gold medal and 9-0 record at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship, and JaMychal Green was a member of the 2008 U.S. team that captured a 4-1 record and silver medal at the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

The roster features two players – Abromaitis and Jardine – who graduated in 2011 with remaining eligibility, eight athletes from the class of 2012, one athlete who will graduate in 2013 – Jenkins – and one player – McCallum– who recently completed his freshman season and will graduate in 2014.

Seven NCAA conferences are represented on the roster, including three schools from the Big East Conference and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), two schools from the Big Ten Conference and one program apiece from the Big 12 Conference, the Big West Conference, Horizon League and Ivy League.

Training camp continues for the team members through Aug. 7, with two practices each day at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and the team will depart for China on Aug. 8.  The USA will play an exhibition contest against New Century, a Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) professional team, in Huizho, China, on Aug. 11, before opening World University Games play on Aug. 13.

More to follow on detroittitans.com, including exclusive video from McCallum at the camp.