Beaverton, Oregon (July 22, 2008) – For the second consecutive year, the world's best basketball players will travel to the Northwest to compete in the Nike Global Challenge, this year held at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, OR from August 8-10. The tournament will feature International teams such as Euroleague junior tournament champion FMP-Serbia and the SEEDs Academy from Senegal. Lithuania, Puerto Rico and Canada, as well as three teams made up of the top players from the United States, will round out the field.

This year's U.S. participants includes Harrison Barnes (Ames/Ames, IA), Avery Bradley (Bellarmine Prep/Tacoma, WA), Reggie Bullock (Kinston/Kinston, NC), Demarcus Cousins (Le Flore/Mobile, AL), Aaron Dotson (Rainier Beach/Seattle, WA), Roger Franklin (Duncanville/Duncanville, TX), Abdul Gaddy (Bellarmine Prep/Tacoma, WA), Mike Gilchrist (St. Benedict/Newark, NJ), Jordan Hamilton (Dominguez/Compton, CA), Xavier Henry (Putnam City/Oklahoma City, OK), John Henson (Round Rock/Round Rock, TX), Terrence Jones (Jefferson/Portland, OR), Wally Judge, Jr. (Arlington Country Day/Jacksonville, FL), Kendall Marshall (Bishop O'Connell/Arlington, VA), Tommy Mason-Griffin (James Madison/Houston, TX), Mike Moser (Grant/Portland, OR), Alex Oriakhi (Tilton School/Tilton, NH), Daniel Orton (Bishop McGuinness/Oklahoma City, OK), Mason Plumlee (Christ School/Arden, NC), Phil Pressey (Episcopal School of Dallas/Dallas, TX), Jereme Richmond (Waukegan/Waukegan, IL), Roscoe Smith (Walbrook/Baltimore, MD), Dontae Taylor (National Christian/Ft. Washington, MD), DeShaun Thomas (Bishop Luers/Ft. Wayne, IN), Dion Waiters (South Kent Prep/South Kent, CT), John Wall (Word of God Christian/Raleigh, NC), Royce White (De La Salle/Minneapolis, MN), Rodney Williams, Jr. (Robbinsdale Cooper/New Hope, MN) and Jamil Wilson (Horlick High School/Racine, WI).

Last year's U.S. squads were filled with talent including heralded incoming NCAA freshmen Tyreke Evans (Memphis), Demar DeRozan (USC), Samardo Samuels (Louisville), Drew Gordon (UCLA) and Greg Monroe (Georgetown).

The Nike Global Challenge is the culmination of the summer season. The players were chosen based on their performance at the LeBron James Skills Academy (July 5-9, Akron, OH) and the preceding positional skills academies with NBA stars Steve Nash, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter and Amaré Stoudemire.

In addition to the games, Nike will hold a series of open run games as part of the Nike Ballers Network on Saturday, August 9th and a basketball training session with SPARQ's Chris Thomas on Sunday, August 10th – both at Liberty High School for basketball players.

For more information on the event and to purchase tickets, please visit the official web site at www.NikeGlobalChallenge.com.

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