Circle January 3, 2004 on the calendar. The Michigan State-Syracuse game at the Carrier Dome just added a juicy story line to an already intriguing non-conference matchup of potential top 10 teams.

Syracuse junior Hakim Warrick was among the final cuts from the USA Basketball Pan American Games roster over the weekend in Orlando. A surprising decision to be sure, and one that raised the ire of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and made him question the selection process.

	Hakim Warrick may have a little extra incentive when Syracuse hosts Michigan State this season.

The man who will be coaching the team? Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.

Izzo is coaching the U.S. team that will compete in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic next week. And while Izzo told ESPN.com that the selection process was a collective vote by the USA Basketball committee, it didn't soothe Boeheim's mind.

"I was shocked," Boeheim said by phone from his Syracuse home. "It makes no sense to me. He was one of the best players there."

Apparently, that wasn't the case.

While court coaches such as Drexel's Bruiser Flint raved about Warrick at the first USA trials in Colorado Springs in May, the forward apparently didn't perform up to his potential during the final tryouts in Orlando last week. Warrick, along with Marquette guard Steve Novak. North Carolina State's Julius Hodge and Baylor forward Lawrence Roberts, were the final four trimmed from the 12-man roster.

Izzo is on record as saying he went into the final weekend of tryouts looking to put together a tougher team, which may explain why he was more impressed with Kentucky forward Chuck Hayes. Hayes was a surprise addition to the team, but apparently was a gritty rebounder during the week of practice.

"Hayes grabbed every rebound," Izzo said.

The slender Warrick simply didn't fit the mold of this Pan Am Games team, even though Boeheim looks at the shot-blocking Warrick as versatile swingman.

Izzo, however, said Warrick wasn't competing so much with Hayes as he was with Arizona State's Ike Diogu, the Pac-10 freshman of the year last season. Both Warrick and Diogu played solid defense, but the difference apparently was Diogu scored nearly every time he got the ball in the post or got to the free-throw line. Warrick is still a developing offensive player.

Boeheim hopes Warrick takes this humbling experience to heart and works even harder to be a go-to player as a junior next season. Even Carmelo Anthony, the No. 3 pick in the NBA draft, tabbed Warrick as his heir apparent as the Orangemen defend their national title.

U.S. Pan Am Squad

A look at Team USA's 12-player squad and each player's 2002-03 college statistics: Andre Barrett, Seton Hall PTS: 16.7 | AST: 5.3 | REB: 3.8 Josh Childress, Stanford PTS: 14.1 | AST: 2.1 | REB: 8.1 Ike Diogu, Arizona State PTS: 19.0 | AST: 0.8 | REB: 7.8 Ben Gordon, Connecticut PTS: 19.5 | AST: 4.7 | REB: 4.2 Chuck Hayes, Kentucky PTS: 8.5 | AST: 2.4 | REB: 6.7 Chris Hill, Michigan State PTS: 13.7 | AST: 3.7 | REB: 3.4 Luke Jackson, Oregon PTS: 16.0 | AST: 3.6 | REB: 6.9 Arthur Johnson, Missouri PTS: 16.0 | AST: 1.2 | REB: 9.5 Brandon Mouton, Texas PTS: 14.8 | AST: 1.7 | REB: 4.2 Emeka Okafor, Connecticut PTS: 15.9 | AST: 0.5 | REB: 11.2 Rickey Paulding, Missouri PTS: 17.7 | AST: 5.6 | REB: 5.6 Blake Stepp, Gonzaga PTS: 18.0 | AST: 6.0 | REB: 3.7

Boeheim's comments, however, didn't stop at Warrick's omission. The coach who won his first national championship in April and coached the U.S. to a gold medal in the World Championships for Young Men in 2001 was also critical of the final roster, saying it had too many guards. He also wondered if coaches who coach the U.S. teams should be allowed to take their own players.

Oregon's Ernie Kent, who guided this year's U.S. Junior Worlds squad, was criticized by other coaches for picking players he was actively recruiting to play for Team USA. Kent's fifth-place squad featured rising senior David Burgess, who has Oregon on a short list of possible college choices. Burgess is said to be leaning toward UCLA, but Aaron Brooks signed with Oregon last year after going on a summer USA Basketball tour with Kent in 2002.

Oregon's assistants, meanwhile, argue that spending extra time with a possible recruit is a perk that should go to a college coach who spends July working for USA Basketball instead of spending every hour on the recruiting trail.

In the case of this Pan Am squad, it doesn't make sense for a coach to not have his own players on the team. Izzo will have his starting point guard at Michigan State, Chris Hill, running things for the Americans, while Team USA assistant Quin Snyder will have a pair of Tigers in red, white and blue.

But Missouri's Arthur Johnson was the consensus top talent in the trials and in practice last week. He was a must on the team, regardless of his coach. Missouri guard Rickey Paulding, who didn't participate in the trials in Colorado Springs because of an injured wrist, was healthy last week and made the team.

As for the other three who didn't make the cut, Roberts was a hit with Izzo in Colorado Springs but tendinitis in his knee prevented him from making the team. Novak was cut because he simply wasn't as good as the other shooting guard/forwards like Oregon senior Luke Jackson.

But N.C. State point guard Julius Hodge was another surprising cut, at least to his coach Herb Sendek. Sendek said Hodge is one of the most versatile players he has coached and can play a variety of positions -- a plus on a foreign touring team.

Izzo admits his Pan Am team will lack depth when it comes to true point guards. Seton Hall's Andre Barrett, who wasn't initially invited to be on the squad, is the only true point. Gonzaga's Blake Stepp will play some point, but is more of a shooter than passer. The same can be said about Texas guard Brandon Mouton, who made the team but didn't play much last week because of an ankle injury. Izzo said the coaches feel Connecticut's Ben Gordon can play the point, but he's better suited to play his natural position of shooting guard.

Add it all up and there are seven guards -- Barrett, Stepp, Gordon, Mouton, Hill, Paulding and Jackson -- and that number grows to eight if you count Stanford's Josh Childress, who will be listed as a forward, but would rather play more like a big guard. The four remaining forwards are Hayes, Diogu, Connecticut's Emeka Okafor and Johnson. Look for Okafor and Johnson to play the role of centers in Santo Domingo.

Izzo agreed this U.S. team could struggle at the point if Barrett gets into foul trouble. But don't blame Izzo. This team's lack of point guards is a result of an archaic USA Basketball rule.

Saint Joseph's Jameer Nelson and Notre Dame's Chris Thomas -- each of whom would have been easy choices for Izzo to add to the squad -- weren't eligible for the team once they declared for the NBA draft, even though each withdrew and are eligible to play next season. North Carolina's Raymond Felton, another top point guard going into the 2003-04 season, chose to go to summer school instead of playing USA Basketball.

Despite the lack of a point guard, expect Team USA to be a perimeter-oriented squad when the games begin Saturday. Okafor and company should be able to hold their own down low, but with so many shooters on the squad, this team will have to win a few games from the perimeter.

The Pan Am team is starting international competition on the heels of the latest USA entrant's failure to win a medal in Greece at the World Junior Championships.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.