Six Europeans have been included in the World team for the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit, which will be played on April 11 in Portland, Oregon.
The roster features
Guard Edwin Jackson of France (Nanterre), Serbian forward Milan Macvan (Hemofarm), Lithuanian center Donatas Motiejunas (Aisciai Kaunas), Greek guard Nikos Pappas (Real Madrid), French center Kevin Seraphin (Cholet) and Croaitian forward Tomislav Zubcic (Cibona).
The other four players are Argentinian guards Matias Nocedal (Vic Girona) and Mateo Gaynor (Benetton), Senegalese forward Mamadou Samb (Barcelona) and Chinese center Zhang Dayu (Zhejiang Wanma).
Rich Sheubrooks, Nike’s Consultant of Global Basketball, assembled the team and said:
“I think this year’s team is one of our bigger teams. They are fundamentally sound and come from good basketball programs all over the world. Argentina brings toughness and passion, Europe brings ball skills and fundamentals, while China and Africa bring raw talent and a great deal of potential.”
As of January 2009, 13 former World Team members were playing in the NBA.
Here is a list of the World alumni in the NBA:
Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks), Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), Vladimir Radmanovic (Charlotte Bobcats), Andrea Bargnani (Toronto Raptors), Dan Gadzuric (Milwaukee Bucks), Darius Songaila (Washington Wizards), Sergio Rodriguez (Portland Trail Blazers), Yi Jianlian (New Jersey Nets), Luis Scola (Houston Rockets), Roko Ukic (Toronto Raptors), Nicolas Batum (Portland Trail Blazers), Mouhamed Saer Sene (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Alexis Ajinca (Charlotte Bobcats).
The Nike Hoop Summit – which pits the best American and international players 19-year-old or younger – will be webcast on Yahoo! Sports.
