Brandon Mouton Invited to USA Basketball Pan American Games Team Trials

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - University of Texas junior guard Brandon Mouton (Lafayette, La.) is one of 52 players invited to participate in USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials, the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee announced Thursday. The Committee will select finalists for two teams - the 2003 USA Basketball Junior World Championship Team and the 2003 Pan American Games Team - following the three-day trials. Due to Mouton's age (older than 19 years old), he is only eligible for a spot on the USA Pan American Games Team.

The trials will be held May 30-June 1 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The first session will be held from 5-7 p.m. (Mountain time) on Friday, May 30, and will be followed by sessions from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 31. The trials will conclude with a final session from 8:30-10 a.m. on Sunday, June 1.

This marks Mouton's first invite to the USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials. Mouton, who earned co-team MVP honors and was tabbed UT's Most Improved Player, garnered second-team NABC All-District 9 accolades and third-team All-Big 12 Conference mention by the league's coaches. He ranked second on the team in scoring (14.8 ppg), assists (1.7 apg), steals (1.0 spg), three-point field goal percentage (.413) and minutes (30.1 mpg) and ranked fourth in rebounding (4.2 rpg). Mouton reached double figures in scoring in a team-best 28 games and had seven 20-point performances. During the NCAA Tournament, he averaged a team-best 17.8 points per contest.

"I'm really excited for Brandon that he has been invited to the National Team Trials," Texas head coach Rick Barnes said. "This is a great chance for Brandon to show people around the country that he is one of the best college players in the nation."

The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics, will be held Aug. 1-17 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The men's basketball competition is slated for Aug. 2-6. The field of teams in men's basketball, which will include teams from eight nations, is not yet known. Michigan State University head coach Tom Izzo will serve as head coach of the 2003 USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games team. Izzo will be assisted by University of Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar and University of Missouri head coach Quin Snyder.

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