DOM - Mejia, Asselin in preliminary squad

SANTO DOMINGO (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - CSKA Moscow's Sammy Mejia and Assignia Manresa's Josh Asselin have been included in the Dominican Republic's preliminary squad for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).

Mejia, a 1.98m guard who burst onto the Euroleague scene last season with Cholet Basket and once earned the Player of the Week  honor, did not feature as much in a star-studded CSKA outfit that finished runners-up to Olympiacos.

Asselin, a 2.10m center who hails from Michigan but has Dominican nationality, averaged 12.7 points this season in the Spanish Liga Endesa as Manresa impressed with a 12th place finish in arguably the toughest domestic competition outside the NBA.

The 33-year-old pivot played for the Dominican team at the 2005 FIBA Americas Championship.

The Dominican Republic, who recently confirmed John Calipari is to coach the team for a second straight summer, are not short of star power.

Among the others in the preliminary squad are Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford, one of the top players in last year's FIBA Americas Championship, Sacramento Kings guard Francisco Garcia, Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva and big man Jack Martinez of Cocodrilos in Venezuelas.

Eulis Baez of Joventut Badalona in Spain, who recently spoke to FIBA.com about this summer's big opportunity at the OQT in Caracas, is also in the squad.

The Dominicans will train 1-15 June at the University of Kentucky, where Calipari is the coach, and then compete at the Centrobasket
(18-24) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The national team will be at the OQT in Caracas, which runs from 2-8 July.

Dominican Republic squad: 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 Towns.

FIBA