Malcolm Hill cut from USA Basketball training camp

Illinois' Malcolm Hill was one of five players released from USA Basketball's training camp ahead of the Pan American Games on Thursday morning. The initial cut from 21 players include Hill, Isaac Haas (Purdue), Monte Morris (Iowa State), Josh Scott (Colorado), and Rico Gathers (Baylor).

Of the 16 remaining players, only 12 will make the team to compete from July 21 to July 25 in the Pan American Games tournament in Toronto.

21 player @usabasketball Pan-Am roster cut down to 16. Monte Morris, Malcolm Hill, Isaac Haas, Josh Scott, Ricardo Gathers first released.

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) July 9, 2015

As a sophomore, Hill was Illinois' second-leading scorer during the 2014-15 season with an average of 14.4 points per game; he was also third-best rebounder with 4.8 boards per game.

It's obviously unfortunate that Hill was let go, but he'll have more opportunities like this in the future. On the bright side, he'll now be fully rested for Illinois' overseas trip to Europe later this Summer.

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