Ater tipping off training camp on July 24 with 32 athletes, the list of finalists for the 2014 USA Basketball Men’s U17 World Championship Team has been pared to 17 of the nation’s top 17-and-under basketball players.
Headlined by the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship MVP Malik Newman (Callaway H.S./Jackson, Miss.), the list of finalists includes 10 members of the 2013 USA U16 National Team that captured gold and seven international rookies who are all jockeying for a spot on the final 12-member team.
Finalists were selected by the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Committee, chaired by USA Basketball Men’s National Team Director Sean Ford, and the official 2014 USA U17 World Championship Team will be named prior to Aug. 1.
In addition to Newman, finalists for the 2014 USA U17 World Championship Team include: Tyus Battle (Gill St. Bernard’s School/ Edison, N.J.); Thomas Bryant (Huntington Prep, W.Va./Rochester, N.Y.); Henry Ellenson (Rice Lake H.S./Rice Lake, Wis.); Terrence Ferguson (Prime Prep Academy/Flower Mound, Texas); De’Aaron Fox (Cypress Lakes H.S./Katy, Texas); Harry Giles (Wesleyan Christian Academy/Winston-Salem, N.C.); Mustapha Heron (Sacred Heart H.S./West Haven, Conn.); Josh Jackson (Consortium College Prep H.S./ Southfield, Mich.); V.J. King (St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S./Akron, Ohio); T.J. Leaf (Foothills Christian H.S./Lakeside, Calif.); Ivan Rabb (Bishop O’Dowd H.S./ Oakland, Calif.); Devearl Ramsey (Sierra Canyon H.S./Los Angeles, Calif.); Diamond Stone (Dominican H.S./Milwaukee, Wis.); Caleb Swanigan (Homestead H.S./Fort Wayne, Ind.); Jayson Tatum (Chaminade College Prep/St. Louis, Mo.); and Derryck Thornton (Findlay Prep, Nev./Simi Valley, Calif.).
“It was really a difficult decision that the committee arrived at,” said USA head coach Don Showalter (Iowa City H.S., Iowa). “I think it boiled down to a few things, like what do we feel is going to make the best team, who can play defense and who can hit shots. I think the 17 guys that we have right now can all fit that category. It’s going to be difficult to cut this group down to 12, but having a few more practices allows us to look at the players in different positions and how we’re going to use the kids as a team, see what happens when we put in a system. I think it’s really good that we keep 17 at this time. It allows us to put in a system and see how they function in a system.”
The 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship for Men, hosted Aug. 8-16 by Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will feature 16 national teams that qualified through their FIBA zone tournaments. Players eligible for this competition must be citizens of the country they represent and have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1997. Two-time defending U17 gold medalist, the USA has a perfect 16-0 record at the U17s. The U.S. qualified for this year’s U17s by virtue of its gold-medal finish at the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
Release: USA Basketball
