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| U.SportsMonday, June 23, 2008 11:56 PM CDT |
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Illini's basketball star Williams selected for Olympics
Throughout the history of University of Illinois basketball, one honor has escaped even its greatest players. Until Monday, no player had ever represented the Illini in the Olympics. That changed with the announcement that former Illini Deron Williams has been selected as one of 12 players named to the Men’s Senior National Team that will represent the United States in the Olympic Summer Games Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, China. “I’m thrilled to death to have this opportunity,” said Williams, who helped lead Illinois to the NCAA national championship game in 2005. “It’s an honor to be on the team and an honor to represent my country in the Olympics. It’s something I’ve always dreamed about.” Williams is one of two Utah Jazz players named to the U.S. squad. The other is Carlos Boozer. Joining them on the Olympic team are a cast of NBA all-stars that includes Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd and Dwayne Wade. Williams said he has known about the honor for a couple of weeks, ever since former Illini Jerry Colangelo, who serves as USA Basketball managing director, text-messaged him while on the golf course. Williams said he felt he had made a positive impression on Olympic coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke during USA Basketball play last summer, but couldn’t be sure he’d made the Olympic team until Colangelo shared the good news. “I really didn’t talk to either of them,” Williams said. “I texted Coach K when he had his 800th career win but I had no conversations once the (NBA) season started. When Jerry called, I was really happy.” Also happy with the news is Illini coach Bruce Weber. “We are thrilled for Deron,” Weber said. “This is a tremendous honor. “He began participating with USA Basketball when he was here and has been working his way up the ladder to get to this point. I know it has been one of his long-term goals to make the U.S. Olympic team and try to lead his country to a gold medal. “He has the desire and ambition and that is just as important in international competition as talent, to have a makeup of guys who are willing to give their time and effort, who want to be there and, most importantly, want to win. “I know that Illini fans will now watch the Olympics with even more interest. It is a great source of pride to have one of our own competing on the world’s biggest stage.” Weber and Williams have enjoyed a close relationship and on Monday, Williams once again praised Weber’s role in his development. “From the moment he got to campus he was very instrumental,” Williams said. “He was important to my improvement. His system was built for me, built for guards. He gave me a lot of freedom. “His ability to improve players helped me improve over the years. Defensively and offensively he made me ready for the NBA.” Williams said he spoke to Weber “the other day,” and has talked to a number of his former Illini teammates. “They are definitely happy for me,” Williams said. “They wished me the best.” The team will have a mini-camp in Las Vegas this week and meet there July 20-25 to train. An exhibition game against Canada will precede the trip to China, where the U.S. opens Olympic competition Aug. 10 against China. It’s a mission of redemption for the United States, which finished third in 2004 in Athens, losing three times despite the presence of NBA players. “I think we’ll be well prepared, no doubt about that,” Williams said. “I think everybody on our team, Kobe, LeBron, are the best competitors you can have on one team. “It’s all about winning the gold. Anything less would be disappointing.” E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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illini fan 5 wrote on Jun 24, 2008 12:03 PM:
Spanky wrote on Jun 24, 2008 8:45 AM:
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