USA Basketball announced the 14 finalists for its 2007 Pan American Team earlier today and D.J. White was among those selected.

The roster is still not finalized, as there will be two more players cut before the Pan American Games begin on July 25th in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Here’s what IU’s top returning player had to say after making the cut:

On his thoughts when he heard he made the cut from 30 players to 14:

“When I heard my name called, my first thought was just thank the Lord for this opportunity. I’m happy to have a chance to represent my country in an event we haven’t won since 1983, so I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

On what he can bring to the team:

“I think I can bring rebounding and defense to this team, I’m able to score on opponents on the low block, so I think I can bring that and defensive rebounding to the team.”

Congratulations are in order for Mr. White and it looks like a strong possibility that he’ll survive the final cut. This is not D.J.’s first experience with USA Basketball, as he previously competed in the 2004 Nike Hoop Summit and was on the 2003 Youth Development Festival South Team.