Pitt sophomore Ashton Gibbs and incoming freshman Dante Taylor have been named to the USA Basketball Men’s Under-19 National Team Trials.
Gibbs and Taylor will audition for the squad which is coached by Pitt basketball coach Jamie Dixon.
Trials to select the 2009 USA Men’s Under-19 National Team will be held June 16-18 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Gibbs and Taylor are among 17 athletes, born on or after January 1, 1990, who will participate in the trials. Training camp for selected finalists will begin June 19, with the 12-member USA roster being announced prior to the team’s departure for New Zealand on June 25.
The USA National Team will compete in the FIBA Under-19 World Championships, which will be held July 2-12 in Auckland, New Zealand.
A West Orange, N.J. native, Gibbs led the Big East Conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.439) and averaged 4.3 points in 35 games played as a freshman in 2008-09.
The sophomore guard reached double figure scoring in six games, hit at least one 3-pointer in 19 contests and converted three or more 3-pointers in six games on the year.
Taylor will enter his freshman year at Pitt in September. In February, he became the fifth signee in school history to earn
McDonald’s High School All-America accolades after averaging 23.8 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots per game as a senior at National Christian Academy (Md.).
Originally from Greenburgh, N.Y., Taylor also shot 65 percent from the floor, registered 23 double-doubles and scored 30-plus points in eight different contests last year.
