-BIG EAST team will represent Team USA in the men's basketball competition -
The BIG EAST has selected Butler redshirt senior
Sean McDermott and 2018 graduate
Tyler Wideman for its roster of men's basketball standouts who will represent the United States in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, on July 31-August 4. The roster includes a pool of 15 players. For the competition, 12 active players and three alternates will be determined.
The BIG EAST is the first single Division I conference to represent the U.S. in the sport of men's basketball in Pan American Games competition. Ed Cooley, the head coach of Providence College, will be the head coach of the U.S. squad. He will be assisted by Kevin Willard of Seton Hall University and Mike Martin of Brown University.
The Pan American Games are a multi-sport event featuring teams from North, South and Central American and the Caribbean, which are organized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) and played every four years in the year preceding the Olympics (2019, 2023, etc.).
The team will play five games in five days in Lima. The U.S. squad will open play in Pool A against Virgin Islands on July 31 followed by contests against Venezuela on Aug. 1 and Puerto Rico on Aug. 2 before medal round play on Aug. 3-4. The Pool B Participants are: Argentina, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Uruguay.
Prior to the Games, the team will practice at the Ruane Development Center on the Providence College campus July 21-26.
McDermott will suit up for the Bulldogs as a redshirt senior for the 2019-20 season. The 6-6 forward was one of three Bulldogs to start all 33 games last season, finishing fourth on the team in scoring at 9.5 points per game. His 3.9 rebounds per game were second on the team. McDermott shot .406 from three-point range, which led the Bulldogs and was sixth in the BIG EAST.
Wideman just completed his first professional season, playing for KK Cedevita Zagreb in Croatia. He averaged 7.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. The 2018 Butler graduate holds Butler's single-season (.672, 2017-18) and career (.623) records for field goal percentage. He started 105 career games (including 100 over his final three years) and is in the Top 10 in program history in blocked shots. The 6-8 forward averaged 9.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a senior during the 2017-18 season. He and teammate
Kelan Martin became the first class in Butler history to win at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of their four seasons. As a senior, the conference's head coaches voted Wideman as the 2018 BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award recipient.
Wideman is one of three BIG EAST graduates included on the roster.
Creighton center Geoffrey Groselle picked up his diploma in 2016 and Georgetown guard Greg Malinowski graduated this year. McDermott is among 12 student-athletes with college eligibility remaining.
The roster pool of 15 follows.
2019 Pan American Games Roster*
Name School Yr. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown
Ty-Shon Alexander Creighton Jr. G 6-4 195 Charlotte, N.C.
Myles Cale Seton Hall Jr. G-F 6-6 210 Middletown, Del.
Alpha Diallo Providence Sr. G 6-7 213 New York, N.Y.
David Duke Providence So. G 6-5 198 Providence, R.I.
Collin Gillespie Villanova Jr. G 6-3 190 Huntington, Pa.
Geoffrey Groselle Creighton -- C 7-0 246 Plano, Tex.
Mustapha Heron St. John's Sr. G 6-5 220 Waterbury, Conn.
Greg Malinowski Georgetown -- G 6-6 200 Chantilly, Va.
Sean McDermott Butler R-Sr. F 6-6 195 Anderson, Ind.
Luwane Pipkins Providence Gr. G 5-11 180 Chicago, Ill.
Myles Powell Seton Hall Sr. G 6-2 195 Trenton, N.J.
A.J. Reeves Providence So. G 6-6 200 Roxbury, Mass.
Jermaine Samuels Villanova Jr. F 6-5 225 Franklin, Mass.
Nate Watson Providence Jr. C 6-10 250 Portsmouth, Va.
Tyler Wideman Butler -- F 6-8 240 Schererville, Ind.
Head Coach: Ed Cooley (Providence)
Assistant Coach: Kevin Willard (Seton Hall)
Assistant Coach: Mike Martin (Brown)
*All Pan American Games roster nominations are pending final approval of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
