By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
Headlined by Creighton senior forward and probable Big East Preseason Player of the Year Doug McDermott, USA Basketball announced the 12-man roster for the World University Games on Saturday afternoon.
The event runs July 7-16 in Kazan, Russia. The Americans will continue training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs through June 30 before departing for Russia on July 1. They will practice in Russia from July 3-6 before opening play in Pool C against United Arab Emerates on July 7
McDermott is the only USA Basketball veteran on the roster, while Yonkers native and University of Cincinnati senior swingman Sean Kilpatrick made the cut. Louisville senior small forward Luke Hancock, who was named Most Outstanding Player at last season’s Final Four, is also Russia-bound. Hancock made the team after forging ahead following the death of his father on Monday morning.
“Clearly versatility, we have guys that can play more than one position, that’s one of the great strengths we have,” said USA and Davidson College head coach Bob McKillop said in a statement. “I think we shoot the ball particularly well from a number of positions and we’ve got guys who want to be teammates. Those two things, to me, are the biggest advantages that we have, or the biggest strengths for our team.”
The United States is in Pool C along with Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Sweden and United Arab Emirates. Pool A consists of Estonia, Germany, Oman, Russia, Ukraine and South Korea. Playing in Pool B are Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Philippines, Romania and Serbia. Pool D includes Brazil, Chile, China, Finland, Lithuania and Norway.
The medal round begins July 14 with the top two teams in each pool and culminates with the gold medal game on July 16.
The entire roster is listed below.
| NAME | POS | HGT | WGT | DOB | YOG | SCHOOL | HOMETOWN |
| Spencer Dinwiddie |
G
|
6-6
|
200
|
04/06/93
|
2015
|
Colorado | Woodland Hills, CA |
| Yogi Ferrell |
G
|
6-0
|
178
|
05/09/93
|
2016
|
Indiana | Indianapolis, IN |
| Treveon Graham |
F
|
6-5
|
215
|
10/28/93
|
2015
|
Virginia Commonwealth | Temple Hills, Md. |
| Luke Hancock |
F
|
6-6
|
200
|
01/30/90
|
2014
|
Louisville | Roanoke, VA |
| Tyler Haws |
G
|
6-5
|
200
|
04/11/91
|
2015
|
BYU | Alpine, UT |
| Cory Jefferson |
C
|
6-9
|
210
|
12/26/90
|
2013
|
Baylor | Killeen, TX |
| Sean Kilpatrick |
G
|
6-4
|
221
|
01/06/90
|
2014
|
Cincinnati | Yonkers, NY |
| Alex Kirk |
C
|
7-0
|
250
|
11/14/91
|
2015
|
New Mexico | Los Alamos, NM |
| Doug McDermott |
F
|
6-8
|
225
|
01/03/92
|
2014
|
Creighton | Ames, IA |
| Adreian Payne |
F
|
6-10
|
240
|
02/19/91
|
2014
|
Michigan State | Dayton, OH |
| Will Sheehey |
F
|
6-7
|
200
|
01/16/92
|
2014
|
Indiana | Stuart, FL |
| Aaron White |
C
|
6-8
|
218
|
09/10/92
|
2015
|
Iowa | Strongsville, OH |
