DALLAS (June 26, 2007) – The Chinese Men’s National Olympic Basketball Team will visit Dallas from June 29th to July 4th for a cultural event, hosted by Victory Park, at the Dallas House of Blues and two exhibition games at Moody Coliseum on the campus of Southern Methodist University.
The Chinese team will face the 2007 USA Basketball Men’s Under-19 (U19) World Championship Team on July 1 at 5 p.m. and the Dallas Mavericks Summer League Team on July 3 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 per person for each game. Children 5 and under are admitted free. Tickets are available at Moody Coliseum on the day of the game. For more information please call (214) 768-4263.
The Chinese Men’s National Olympic team is expected to feature NBA All-Star Yao Ming and NBA prospects Sun Yue and Yi Jianlian, who is projected to be a top 10 pick in Thursday’s draft. The Chinese Men’s National Team also will be competing in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas from July 6-15.
Local players on the current USA Basketball Men’s U19 Team roster include former South Oak Cliff High School standout Darrell Arthur, who now plays for the University of Kansas, and DeAndre Jordan, who was ranked as the top high school player in Texas last year and will play at Texas A&M in the fall.
The Dallas Maverick Summer League Team is expected to include 2006 first-round draft choice Maurice Ager, DeSagana Diop, Jose Juan Barea and Pops Mensah-Bonsu.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for Team China to visit Dallas,” said Hu Jiashi, Vice President of Chinese Basketball Association. “For the Chinese Basketball Association, the relation with Dallas and Mr. Perot has become very meaningful since end of 20th century. Team China is now in the process preparing for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. We do believe it will be a big help to play some strong teams this summer, like USA Basketball Men’s U19 Team and the Dallas Mavericks Summer League Team. It will help our young players gain more experience and learn from good teams. We appreciate everything the city of Dallas has done for us. It’s not just basketball; it’s also a good promotion of the goodwill for the people from both of our countries.”
“Hillwood is honored to host the Chinese Olympic Basketball team at Victory Park,” said Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Hillwood. “Victory Park’s strength is its successful integration of business, sports, entertainment, culture and residential into one dynamic district. It is a tremendous asset as North Texas continues to expand its relationship beyond business with our leading trade partner.”
“Dallas is a world-class city with a new slogan – ‘Live Large. Think Big.’ – that describes its maverick history and its dedication to excellence,” said Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau President/CEO Phillip Jones. ”Hosting the Chinese National Basketball Team will bring international awareness to Victory Park. Hillwood’s vision for Victory enables the city to showcase to an international audience its many strengths, including entertainment, sports and innovative architecture in a ‘neighborhood’ that touts the largest urban arts district in the nation.”
Coach of USA Basketball Men’s U19 Team and current DePaul University Head Coach Jerry Wainwright says, “Without question in the game of basketball China is certainly an emerging power. With the influence Yao Ming has had not only in the NBA but also in terms of his world wide notoriety, I would certainly believe he has inspired a lot of young people in China to begin to look at basketball as a serious pursuit. Additionally, people are saying that one of the top 10 NBA draft picks this year will be Yi Jianlian. So based on their age, experience and talent, for our group of kids coming together for the first time and playing internationally, there’s no appetizers, we’re going to the main course in a very short period of time. What this game will do is it will allow our kids to see how good people from other countries are in the game of basketball and how we’re going to have to play together to beat these teams”
About Victory Park
Located in the heart of Dallas, Victory Park is one of the country’s most significant and innovative master-planned urban developments. Victory Park is creating a new urban environment with a carefully crafted collection of emerging and reputation retail, distinctive dining, modern office space, dramatic residential units, hotels and signature entertainment venues, including the American Airlines Center. Victory Park is owned by Hillwood, a Perot Company, and Hicks Holdings, owned by Tom Hicks. For more information on Victory Park, visit www.victorypark.com.
About Hillwood
Hillwood, (www.hillwood.com) a Perot company, is ranked as one of the top commercial real estate developers in the country and the top residential developer in Dallas-Fort Worth. The company’s developments currently house facilities for 85 companies listed on either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms. In addition to Victory Park, Hillwood is best known for its development of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project, located 15 miles northwest of DFW Airport, and the 2,000-acre AllianceCalifornia project in San Bernardino.
About Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official marketing organization for the city of Dallas, now ranked as the ninth-largest city within the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the nation. A leading meetings, convention, visitor and sports destination, Dallas is poised on the edge of great change with more than $12 billion of development underway in the urban core. For more information, visit www.visitdallas.com