Badgers: Nigel Hayes invited to Pan Am Games tryouts
By Phil Watson
Wisconsin Badgers forward Nigel Hayes is among 22 players who will compete for the 12 spots to represent the United States at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto next month.
USA Basketball announced the candidates on Monday.
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Among them are 16 college players and six professionals.
Other players out of the Big Ten who will compete in the training camp are Isaac Haas of Purdue, Malcolm Hill of Illinois, Romelo Trimble of Maryland and Denzel Valentine of Michigan State.
Wichita State and Baylor are the only programs with two invitees. The Shockers have Ron Baker and Fred Van Vleet in camp, while the Bears will have Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince in attendance.
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The rest of the collegians include Malcolm Brogdon of Virginia, Isaiah Cousins of Oklahoma, Kellen Dunham of Butler, Shawn Long of Louisiana-Lafayette, Monte’ Morris of Iowa State, Joshua Scott of Colorado and Kaleb Tarczewski of Arizona.
The professional players include Bobby Brown, a combo guard from Cal State Fullerton who played two NBA seasons with the Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers from 2008-10. He has also played professionally in Germany, Poland, Greece and Italy and played the last three seasons with the Dongguan Leopards in China.
Micah Downs, a swingman who played at Kansas and Gonzaga, played two seasons in the NBA D-League and was an All-Star with the Maine Red Claws in 2013. He has also played abroad in Croatia, Belgium, Spain, Venezuela and Ukraine and played last season with Russian squad Avtodor Saratov in Eastern Europe’s VTB United League.
Ryan Hollins is one of the more experienced pros in the camp. The 30-year-old spent last season with the Sacramento Kings and has played nine NBA seasons in all with the Charlotte Bobcats, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers. He was a second-round pick by Charlotte out of UCLA in 2006.
Keith Langford, 31, played in two games with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007-08 and the former Kansas guard had extensive stints in the D-League as well as overseas. He has played abroad in Italy, Russia and Israel and spent last season with UNICS Kazan in Russia, playing in the VTB United League.
Anthony Randolph was a former lottery pick by the Golden State Warriors in 2008 out of LSU and the big man also played for the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets in the NBA, as recently as 2013-14 before spending last season with Lokomotiv-Kuban in Russia.
The real old man in the Team USA camp, however, is 35-year-old swingman Damien Wilkins, who played nine NBA seasons from 2004-13 with the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers and who has played in China and Puerto Rico, as well as the D-League, over the last two seasons.
Hayes, who will be a junior next season, is the leading returning scorer for the Badgers after earning third team All-Big Ten honors last season by averaging 12.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes per game, shooting .497/.396/.744.
He had been the conference’s Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman and has helped the Badgers to back-to-back Final Fours.
Hayes, 20, is an Ohio native who played at Whitmer High School in Toledo before coming to Wisconsin.
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The Badgers have had two past members in the Pan American Games—Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsma in 2011. Green Bay’s Tony Bennett was on the 1991 squad.
Mark Few of Gonzaga will coach the team, with Tad Boyle of Colorado and longtime NBA coach Mike Brown as assistants. During training camp, Jason Flanigan of Holmes (Miss.) Community College, Ron Hunter of Georgia State and Mark Turgeon of Maryland will serve as court coaches.
The Pan American Games have been held every four years since 1951 and is a multi-sport competition open to nations in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.
In men’s basketball, the U.S. has an overall record of 87-15 in Pan Am competition, with eight gold medals along with three silver and two bronze.
The U.S. last won gold, however, in 1983. Puerto Rico is the defending champion.