ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell men's basketball junior guard Johnathan Gray has been named to the U.S. Virgin Islands national team. Gray and his new teammates will compete in the 2012 FIBA Centrobasket Championship from June 18-24 in Puerto Rico.

“I'm really excited about this opportunity. My mom, who grew up in St. Thomas, always talked about wanting to go down there with me,” Gray said. “Now basketball will finally give me the opportunity to see the place where my mom grew up.”

Gray will head to St. Croix beginning on June 1 for a two week training camp before competing in the Centrobasket Championship. The Virgin Islands qualified for the subgroup tournament after winning gold at last season's Caribbean championship in Nassau, Bahamas. With a top finish at the round-robin event, Gray and the Virgin Islands team would qualify for the prestigious Americas Championship.

Gray, a junior guard for the Big Red men's basketball team, is two years removed from serving as a team manager. He was named honorable mention All-Ivy League as a junior after ranking sixth in the Ivy League in scoring in league games (12.3 ppg.), while posting 8.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game overall. Gray hit for double figures in scoring 12 times with two 20-point games, including a career-high 29 points in a win over Yale. He also scored 20 points in a victory over Dartmouth. He recorded 18 points against Patriot League regular season champion Bucknell and had 14 points against Ivy champion Harvard.

The Virgin Islands has had past success in the tournament, finishing among the top six 11 times since 1965, including finishing as the runner-up in both 2006 (to Panama) and 2008 (to Puerto Rico). It placed ninth in 2010.

The two most famous basketball residents are perennial NBA All-Star Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, who has played for the U.S. National team, and Raja Bell of the Utah Jazz. It I unknown if Bell will play this summer for the Virgin Islands.