The official, 12-man 2019 USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Cup Team roster was announced Thursday morning, and it features five USA gold medalists, five players who completed their first collegiate season in 2018-19, one athlete from the high school class of 2019 and six players from the high school class of 2020.
Named to the USA U19 World Cup Team were: Scottie Barnes (University School/West Palm Beach, Fla.); Cade Cunningham (Montverde Academy, Fla./Arlington, Texas); Jalen Green (Prolific Prep/Fresno, Calif.); Tyrese Haliburton (Iowa State/Oshkosh, Wis.); Kira Lewis Jr. (Alabama/Meridianville, Ala.); Isaac Likekele (Oklahoma State/Mansfield, Texas); Evan Mobley (Rancho Christian School/Temecula, Calif.); Reggie Perry (Mississippi State/Thomasville, Ga.); Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (IMG Academy, FL/Overland Park, Kan.); Jalen Suggs (Minnehaha Academy/Minneapolis, Minn.); Trevion Williams (Purdue/Chicago, Ill.); and
The last six players cut were: Josh Christopher, Walker Kessler, Casey Morsell, Zeke Nnaji, Anton Watson, and Samuell Williamson.
“It’s been a very, very difficult selection process the last couple of days. One to cut the roster down to 18, and then to get it 12,” said USA and Kansas State University head coach Bruce Weber. “We had a really talented group of players, there were a lot of guys who could be part of this team. I think the thing we have is experience. We have guys who played major college basketball in tough environments, and then we also have another group that has played for USA Basketball at different levels and won gold medals.
“When you think about playing international basketball it’s about toughness, it’s about experience, IQ, and I think that all adds up to why we chose this roster and hopefully moving forward it gives us the best opportunity to win the gold,” added Weber.
Assisting USA head coach Weber with the U19 World Cup team are assistant coaches Mike Hopkins (Washington) and LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central).
The USA will continue training in Colorado Springs through June 23, then travel to Heraklion, Crete, Greece, for the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup that will be played June 29-July 7.
The USA U19 roster features two-time USA Basketball gold medalists Barnes, Green and Suggs, while Mobley and Robinson-Earl have won one gold medal in international play. Additionally, Robinson-Earl helped USA Basketball to a win over the World Select Team in the 2019 Nike Hoop Summit.
Sixteen teams will compete for the U19 World title and they have been divided into four groups for preliminary, round-robin games. The USA was drawn into Group A and will open preliminary play against New Zealand on June 29, then face Lithuania on June 30 and Senegal on July 2.
Following the preliminary round, all teams will advance to the round of 16 on July 3. The winners of the round of 16 will advance to the medal quarterfinals on July 5, and the losers will play out for ninth-16th places. The semifinals will be played on July 6, and the gold and bronze medal games on July 7.
