Dominican Republic, Calipari Ready for Olympic Qualifier

Dominican Republic released their preliminary roster for the upcoming 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament shortly after confirming the return of NCAA champion coach John Calipari on their bench this summer.

Calipari, who recently led University of Kentucky to an NCAA National title, named his 23-man preliminary squad for the Olympic Qualifiers that will run from July 2 to 8 in Caracas, Venezuela.

NBA veteran Al Horford, who had a decent season for the Atlanta Hawks despite sustaining a chest injury, headlined the preliminary squad, which also features Sammy Mejia and Josh Asselin, who both have impressive season while playing overseas.

The development came after the Dominican Basketball Federation struck a deal to retain Calipari, who helped Dominican Republic reach the bronze medal game of the FIBA Americas championship in Argentina last year.

“I’m really honored that the Dominican federation and Eduardo Najri and Jose Miguel Bonetti have once again asked me to coach their national team,” Calipari said. “It was a wonderful learning experience last time that turned out successful for both the Dominican Republic and my staff.”

With their performance in last year FIBA Americas Olympic qualifiers and with Calipari back in the helm, Dominican Republic is tipped to be one of the favorites to grab one of the three Olympic slots at stake in the OQT in July.

Dominican Republic, who will start their training on June 1, was drawn in Group C and will be taking on Russia and Korea in the preliminary round.

Dominican Republic Preliminary Roster for the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament

• Edgar Sosa
• Manuel Quezada
• Ronald Ramon
• Gerardo Suero
• Juan Coronado
• Luis Flores
• Victor Liz
• Manuel Fortuna
• Dagoberto Pena
• James Feldeine
• Sammy Mejia
• Ricky Greer
• Francisco Garcia
• Charlie Villanueva
• Eulis Baez
• Jack Michael Martinez
• Alejandro Salas
• Eloy Vargas
• Orlando Sanchez
• Al Horford
• Josh Asselin
• Manuel Guzman
• Karl Town

Dominican Republic, Calipari Ready for Olympic Qualifier