Bennett Named USA Basketball U19 World Championships Staff
3/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - Randy Bennett of St. Mary's College (Calif.) and Cliff Warren of Jacksonville University today were named assistant coaches for the 2011 USA Basketball Men's U19 World Championship Team, USA Basketball announced.
Including USA Men's U19 and George Mason head coach Paul Hewitt, the trio will lead the USA in the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship June 30 - July 10 in Liepaja and Riga, Latvia. The coaching selections were made by the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee and approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors.
"It is a privilege to work with an organization as respected as USA Basketball," Bennett said. "I'm looking forward to representing the USA in competition this summer. I want to contribute to the coaching staff in any way I can. It's an honor to be selected, and I'm looking forward to working with the coaches, players and everyone involved."
"I am very thankful and honored to get this opportunity to assist Coach Hewitt and represent our country in the FIBA U19 World Championship," Warren said.
While both Bennett and Warren will undertake their first USA Basketball coaching assignment, Bennett gained USA Basketball experience as a court coach during the 2010 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team Training Camp.
"Randy and Cliff are both successful college coaches who will bring enthusiasm and tremendous basketball knowledge to the USA Men's U19 World Championship Team,"said Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University Hall of Fame head coach and chair of the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee.
The 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship will feature 16 nations. The preliminary round will be contested June 30 - July 2 in a round-robin format, with the game schedule still to be announced. The USA has been drawn into Group D, along with China, Egypt and Serbia, and will play the preliminary round in Liepaja, along with Group C, which includes Canada, Croatia, Lithuania and South Korea. Group A, which will play in Valmiera, features Brazil, Poland, Russia and Tunisia; and Group B, also competing in Valmiera, includes Argentina, Australia, host Latvia and Taiwan.
Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was held every four years between 1979-2007. FIBA now conducts the U19 Championship every two years. USA men's teams are 62-11 in the U19/Junior World Championships and have won four gold and three silver medals, most recently earning the gold medal with a 9-0 record in 2009.
The 12-member 2011 USA Men's U19 World Championship Team will be selected by USA Men's Junior National Team Committee during the team's training camp, which is scheduled for June 16-23 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Only athletes born on or after Jan. 1, 1992 are eligible.
Chaired by Boeheim, the USA Men's Junior National Team Committee also includes Lorenzo Romar (University of Washington head coach), Bruce Weber (University of Illinois head coach), Roy Williams (University of North Carolina head coach) and athlete representative Jay Williams (member of the 2002 USA World Championship, 2000 USA U20, 2000 USA Select and 1999 USA Junior National Select teams).
Currently in his 10th season as the head coach at Saint Mary's (2001-02 to present), Bennett lists as the Gaels' all-time wins leader. As of March 2, he owns a 206-110 overall record (.652 winning percentage).
Named the 2011 West Coast Conference (WCC) Coach of the Year on March 1, Bennett has led his 2010-11 team to a 23-7 mark, with the Gaels next playing in the Tournament that begins on March. 6.
Also the 2008 Co-WCC Coach of the Year and the 2010 Sporting News WCC Coach of the Year, Bennett has led his teams to three NCAA Tournament appearances (2005, 2008 and 2010) and the school's first National Invitational Tournament (NIT) appearance in 2009. No other SMC coach has guided his squad to more than one post-season appearance.
Additionally, Bennett has led SMC to the semifinals of the WCC Tournament in each of his nine seasons, advancing to the WCC Tournament final in 2004, 2005 and 2009 and earning the tournament championship in 2010.
With a 28-6 record in 2009-10, Bennett became the only coach in school history to lead teams to back-to-back 20-win campaigns. The Gaels reached the Sweet Sixteen of 2010 NCAA Tournament with wins over Richmond and Villanova, marking the first NCAA Tournament wins in 51 years. SMC also captured the WCC Tournament title for the first time since 1997, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In addition to his nine years at Saint Mary's, Bennett served as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego (1985-86, 1988-89 through 1995-96), University of Idaho (1986-87 through 1987-88), Pepperdine (1996-97 through 1998-99) and Saint Louis (1999-2000 through 2000-01).
He earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of California at San Diego in 1986, where he played basketball from 1983-85 and was the team captain.
Prior to UCSD, he attended Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz., where he played basketball for his father from 1980-82. At Mesa, Bennett helped his team to a 31-4 record and the 1981 Arizona Junior College Championship, as well as a No. 10 national ranking. In 1981-82, Bennett helped the team to a 25-6 record and a second Arizona Junior College Championship as the team's captain.
USA Basketball
Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for men's and women's basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the United States by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA teams that compete in FIBA sponsored international basketball competitions, as well as for some national competitions.
Since 2008, USA Basketball men's and women's teams have compiled a sterling 96-2 win-loss record in FIBA or FIBA Americas competitions. USA teams are the current men's and women's champions in the Olympics, FIBA World Championships; U19 and U17 FIBA World Championships; and U18 and U16 FIBA Americas championships. USA Basketball currently ranks No. 1 in all five of FIBA's world ranking categories, including combined, men's, women's, boys and girls.
For further information about USA Basketball, go to the official Web site of USA Basketball at www.usabasketball.com and connect with us on facebook.com/usabasketball, twitter.com/usabasketball and www.youtube.com/therealusabasketball.
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