May 9, 2003
TORONTO, Ontario - Former Bronco men's basketball standouts Steve Nash and Steve Ross have been named among the 26 athletes invited to Team Canada's initial training camp to compete for a spot on the 2003 Senior Men's National Basketball Team (SMNT), Canada Basketball announced recently.
The team, coached by Jay Triano, will be competing at the FIBA Americas qualification tournament August 20-31, 2003 in San Juan, Puerto Rico in an attempt to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. In order to qualify for the Olympic Games, the team must finish in one of the top three positions at the FIBA Americas tournament.
"We are excited to return to Puerto Rico and recapture the magic of 1999 when we qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games," said head coach, Jay Triano. "The tournament will be very competitive as the United States, Argentina, Brazil and Puerto Rico will all be sending their best players, but we are confident that if we play to our capability we can qualify for Athens in 2004."
Training camps for the FIBA Americas tournament will begin in late June. The competitive schedule will begin with an exhibition tournament in early July and continue with the Pan American Games in early August. The 2003 SMNT schedule will run as follows:
| DATES | EVENT | LOCATION | FACILITY |
| June 26, 2003 - 6:00pm | Open Tryout | Toronto, ON | University of Toronto |
| June 27 - 30, 2003 | Tryouts & Training | Toronto, ON | Air Canada Centre |
| July 1 - 12, 2003 | Tournament | TBD | TBD |
| July 25 - 31, 2003 | Training | Toronto, ON | Air Canada Centre |
| August 1 - 11, 2003 | Pan Am Games | Santo Domingo, DR | Olympic Center |
| August 12 - 19, 2003 | Training | Toronto, ON | Air Canada Centre |
| August 20 - 31, 2003 | FIBA Americas | San Juan, PR | Roberto Clemente Coliseum |
The following 26 athletes have been invited to the team's tryouts:
| Name | Ht | Pos. | School/Club | Hometown | Age |
| ANDERSON, Richard | 6'6" | F | Angers, France | Ottawa, ON | 25 |
| BARRETT, Rowan | 6'5" | F | Hapoel Haifa, Israel | Mississauga, ON | 29 |
| BROWN, Denham | 6'5" | F | University of Connecticut | Toronto, ON | 20 |
| DANIELS, David | 5'10" | G | Athletes in Action | Cincinnati, OH | 32 |
| ENGLISH, Carl | 6'5" | G | University of Hawaii | Patrick's Cove, NF | 22 |
| FOX, Rick | 6'7" | F | Los Angeles Lakers | Los Angeles, CA | 33 |
| GUARASCI, Peter | 6'9" | F | Cordivari Roseto, Italy | Niagara Falls, ON | 29 |
| HAMILTON, Sherman | 6'1" | G | Zalgiris, Lithuania | Malton, ON | 31 |
| JOBITY, Kevin | 6'10" | F | Sagesse, Lebanon | Toronto, ON | 28 |
| JULIUS, Kyle | 6'3" | G | University of Guelph | Thunder Bay, ON | 23 |
| KARANGWA, Prosper | 6'7" | G | Siena College | Montreal, QC | 25 |
| KWIATKOWSKI, Andrew | 6'6" | F | Frankfurt Skyliners, Germany | Cambridge, ON | 24 |
| MacCULLOCH, Todd | 7'0" | C | Philadelphia 76ers | Winnipeg, MB | 27 |
| MAGLOIRE, Jamaal | 6'11" | C | New Orleans Hornets | Toronto, ON | 24 |
| MAVIS, Andrew | 6'6" | F | Newcastle, England | Richmond, BC | 26 |
| MEEKS, Michael | 6'9" | F | Zadar, Croatia | Brampton, ON | 31 |
| MENDEZ, Juan | 6'7" | F | Niagara University | Montreal, QC | 21 |
| NASH, Steve | 6'3" | G | Dallas Mavericks | Victoria, BC | 29 |
| NEWTON, Greg | 6'11" | C | MM-Beer Cherno, Bulgaria | Niagara Falls, ON | 28 |
| NOHR, Randy | 6'2" | G | Sallen, Sweden | Aldergrove, BC | 25 |
| ROSS, Steve | 6'8" | F | Rodez, France | Victoria, BC | 22 |
| RUSSELL, Kyle | 6'2" | G" | University of British Columbia" | Richmond, BC | 24 |
| SWORDS, Shawn | 6'4" | G | Scafati, Italy | Ottawa, ON | 29 |
| THOMAS, David | 6'8" | G | Frankfurt Skyliners, Germany | Toronto, ON | 26 |
| THOMAS, Novell" | 6'0" | G | Buffalo City Thunder, USA | Richmond, BC | 27 |
| YOUNG, Jesse" | 6'10" | F | George Mason University | Peterborough, ON | 23 |
Canada Basketball is a private, not-for-profit corporation that is committed to the growth of the sport in Canada through the support and promotion of programs that expand the number of opportunities to "play the game." Just as important, Canada Basketball is focused on preparing Canada's national teams for the Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan American Games, World Junior Championships and World University Games. The aspiration of Canada Basketball is to instill the pride, commitment, passion and respect that Canadians personify into the development of basketball across the country and internationally.
