Cousins A Finalist For U.S. Pan American Team

Sooner guard Isaiah Cousins is a finalist for the 2015 U.S. Pan American Men's Team, USA Basketball announced Thursday. Training camp began this week in Colorado Springs with 21 participants. Cousins is among the 16 still in the running for a spot on the 12-man roster that will compete in the Pan American Games July 21-25 in Toronto, Ontario.

"Making the decision on the finalists was very difficult. The competition at this training camp was especially impressive; very competitive," said Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim, chair of the USA Basketball Junior National Team Committee that is responsible for player and coach selections. "We believed coming into the training camp that we had assembled a tremendous collection of talented players and that proved to be the case. Making player selections is always a difficult thing, but we feel confident that we have identified players who can help us form a USA team capable of challenging for the Pan Am gold medal."

Cousins was a key component on OU's 24-11 team last year that advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. The guard from Mount Vernon, N.Y., averaged career highs of 11.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while leading the Big 12 with his .450 3-point percentage. A starter every game the last two years, he ranks fifth at OU with a .405 career 3-point field goal mark. He has been named the team's most improved player by teammates each of the past two seasons.

The U.S. men have been placed into Group A of the Pan American Games and will play all three of its preliminary round games at 8 p.m. CDT, including Venezuela on July 21, Puerto Rico on July 22 and Brazil on July 23. Competing in Group B will be Argentina, Canada, Dominican Republic and Mexico.

The top two teams from each preliminary-round group will advance to the medal-round semifinals on July 24, while the third- and fourth-placed teams will play for fifth through eighth places. The semifinal winners will compete for the gold medal on July 25, and the semifinal losers will play for bronze.

Mark Few of Gonzaga University will serve as head coach of the 2015 U.S. Pan American Games squad, and University of Colorado's Tad Boyle and longtime NBA coach Mike Brown were selected as assistant coaches.

2015 U.S. Pan American Games Men's Basketball Finalists

Ron Baker, Wichita State

Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia

Bobby Brown, Fullerton (former)

Isaiah Cousins, Oklahoma

Kellen Dunham, Butler

Nigel Hayes, Wisconsin    

Ryan Hollins, UCLA (Sacramento Kings)

Keith Langford, Kansas (former)

Shawn Long, Louisiana

Taurean Prince, Baylor

Anthony Randolph, LSU (former)

Kaleb Tarczewski, Arizona

Romelo Trimble, Maryland

Denzel Valentine, Michigan State

Fred Van Vleet, Wichita State

Damien Wilkins, Georgia (former)