July 12, 2012

Former USC men's basketball players DeMar DeRozan and Taj Gibson were part of a 13-member USA Men's Select Team roster which trained with the USA National Team in Las Vegas, Nev. from July 6-12 in preparation for the London Olympics.

"The USA Select Team was a vital part of the USA Men's national Team's training to help get our National Team ready for the very competitive summer that is ahead of us," said USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo.

"The 2012 Select Team has an excellent collection of talents," added Colangelo. "The group has outstanding speed and versatility, some excellent shooters and some very good size. It will be great to have them involved in USA Basketball and in the National Team pipeline for our next quadrennium, 2013-16."

DeRozan of the Toranto Raptors played on the USA Junior National Select team in 2008 prior to enrolling at USC. In his one season at USC, DeRozan averaged 13.9 points and 5.7 rebounds in 35 starts. DeRozan was named to the 2008-09 Pac-10 All-Freshman Team and went on to be named Pac-10 Tournament MVP as teammed with Gibson to lead the Trojans to their first conference tournament title. DeRozan was the ninth pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Raptors and has averaged 14.1 points in his three-year professional career.

Gibson of the Chicago Bulls averaged 12.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in 105 career games for USC. He is USC's all-time career shot block record holder with 253 and ranks third all-time among conference players. He was named 2009 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-Conference second team. He had 31 career double-doubles and his 896 career rebounds rank second all-time by a Trojan. Gibson was selected by the Bulls with the 26th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and went on to be named to the NBA All-Rookie first team. Gibson has averaged 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds in his three-year NBA career.