Junior guard Denzel Valentine watches his team play before he comes in off the bench March 29, 2015, during the East Regional round of the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight against Louisville at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The Spartans defeated the Cardinals in overtime, 76-70. Erin Hampton/The State News
Denzel Valentine has accepted his invitation to the 2015 U.S. Pan American Men’s Basketball Team training camp, according to a news release by Spartan Athletics. Twenty-two players were invited and 12 will be selected to represent the USA in Toronto from July 21-25.
The training camp will take place at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., from July 7-12, according to the release.
If Valentine is selected, he will be the fifth MSU player to represent the USA since 1991. The previously selected Spartans were Drew Neitzel in 2007, Chris Hill in 2003, Matt Steigenga in 1999 and Mike Peplowski in 1991, according to USA basketball’s website.
If Valentine is selected, MSU will rank fifth among universities for the all-time number of players on the team since 1951. Indiana State and the University of North Carolina have had eight players and Indiana and Kentucky have had seven players, according to USA basketball’s website.
Tom Izzo coached the team in 2003 and former Spartan coach Jud Heathcote was an assistant twice: 1987 and 1975, according to USA basketball’s website.The three Pan American coaching appearances by Izzo and Heathcote are the most all-time by any university.
The Pan American Games are held every four years in the year before the olympics with countries from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, according to USA basketball’s website.
In 2011, MSU basketball Hall of Famer Steve Smith was on the Pan American Games Committee, according to the NBA’s website, and the team finished in third place.
The USA has not won gold since 1983, according to USA basketball’s website, and in total, the USA has won eight gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals.
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