June 1, 2009

MILWAUKEE - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee head men's basketball coach Rob Jeter has been named an assistant coach for the 2009 USA Basketball World University Games team, USA Basketball announced today.

Jeter will be an assistant alongside Miami's Frank Haith under Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan, who will direct the squad at the 24th World University Games, July 2-12 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Coaching staff selections were made by the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee, chaired by Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim.

Jeter will return to a familiar spot on the staff, having worked under Ryan at UW-Platteville, UWM and Wisconsin before taking over as head coach of the Panthers in 2005.

"I am very excited for the opportunity," Jeter said. "It is a tremendous honor to assist USA Basketball and to help coach what should be a very strong team at the World University Games. This is great recognition for our Milwaukee basketball program, because if I didn't have such a great group of coaches and players to work with here, I would never get an opportunity like this. I look forward to working with Bo (Ryan) and Frank (Haith) and representing Milwaukee and the USA with great pride on an international stage."

"Having coach Jeter will help because he knows me probably better than anyone," Ryan said. "He played for our first national championship team at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He also coached with me at Platteville, he coached with me at UWM and he coached with me here at Wisconsin. At Milwaukee he's been to the NCAA Tournament and won a conference championship.

"He's also someone who has had a chance to coach in different leagues and at different levels. He's coached some really good players at UWM and some really good non-scholarship players at Platteville who could have played at the Division I level. A lot of those guys developed as a result of the job that he did as a coach. I know his strengths and the fact that he knows what I like to have done will help us in the short period of time that we have to prepare."

Jeter has directed the Panthers to 62 wins over his four seasons, including a Horizon League title and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2006. He also won an NCAA Division III National Championship as a player and two more as an assistant coach at UW-Platteville, while also claiming four NCAA Tournament berths and two regular season Big Ten titles at Wisconsin.

The World University Games are held every other year and are organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).

Training camp to select the USA World University Games Team will be held June 16-25 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Players eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens, born between Jan. 1, 1985 and Dec. 31, 1991, who are currently enrolled as a full-time collegiate student with remaining eligibility for the 2009-10 school year. Following the selection of finalists, the Americans will continue to train June 19-28 in Colorado Springs, Colo. before departing for Serbia.

The United States, which has claimed a medal in every World University Games men's basketball competition since beginning play in 1965, has captured a record 13 gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals in the 18 WUGs in which a USA Basketball squad has competed. The U.S., which owns a 125-7 won-loss record in World University Games play, captured six of the first seven gold medals awarded in World University Games competition and strung together six consecutive gold medals from 1989 through 1999.

USA Basketball did not field a team in 2007 for the World University Games, however, the 2005 USA squad rolled to an 8-0 record to capture the gold medal in Izmir, Turkey. Duke forward Sheldon Williams, Boston College's Craig Smith, Villanova's Randy Foye and Minnesota's Vincent Grier averaged double digit scoring to lead the U.S.

Eighteen players who have represented the USA in the World University Games have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games, including Ray Allen, Stacey Augmon, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Bill Bradley, Quinn Buckner, Tom Burleson, Ken Davis, Tim Duncan, Phil Hubbard, Allen Iverson, Mitch Kupchak, Karl Malone, Michael Redd, Mitch Richmond, Michael Silliman, Steve Smith and Jo Jo White.