Julius Randle

The uncommitted 2013 forward from Prestonwood Christian Academy put up a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds to help the U.S. U18 team win the gold medal over host Brazil, 81-56, in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

In five games in Brazil, Randle averaged 14.2 points and 6.6 rebounds.

Oklahoma State-bound guard Marcus Smart added 10 points, six steals, four rebounds and three assists.

“I just wanted to lock in and bring energy to the team, bring leadership to the team, and in the second half I just really wanted to focus in and be aggressive on both ends and on the defensive and offensive glass,” said Randle, who had 14 of his points and 11 of his boards in the second half.

“Julius made some really, really big plays; athletic plays around the basket. He really stepped up and I thought he played exceptionally well yesterday against Argentina, then to come back and follow it up was terrific,” USA head coach Billy Donovan said.

The Americans won their sixth gold medal in the U18 competition, joining the 2010, 2006, 1998, 1994 and 1990  teams that also won.

Team USA is 43-2 overall in the FIBA Americas U18 tournament and has won 10 straight dating to 2010.

In the bronze medal game, Canada (4-1) just slipped past Argentina (2-3) 68-66.

The top finishers from the U18 championship – USA, Brazil, Canada and Argentina- each earned an invite to the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.

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Julius Randle

The USA will meet host Brazil Wednesday for the gold in a rematch of Monday’s game, won by the Americans, 83-64, behind 22 points from Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes and 15 from Randle. Brazil advanced to the gold medal game after handing Canada its first loss of the tournament, 66-62.

“What I have told the guys is whatever has happened up to this point in time against any team we’ve played really doesn’t mean anything. So if you’re playing tomorrow for a gold medal, regardless if it is Brazil or Canada, you can expect it’s going to be a hard fought game because you know what, they’re going to be playing for the same thing we’re playing for,” said USA and University of Florida head coach Billy Donovan.

The U.S. offense, which registered a tournament high 107 points on 54.8 percent shooting overall, was also paced by Rasheed Sulaimon (Strake Jesuit College Prep/Houston, Texas) and his 14 points, Shaq Goodwin (Southwest DeKalb H.S./Decatur, Ga.) tossed in 13, Rodney Purvis (Upper Room Christian/Raleigh, N.C.) and Stokes each accounted for 11 points, and Nate Britt II (Gonzaga H.S., D.C./Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Jake Layman (King Phillip Regional H.S./Wrentham, Mass.) were credited with 10 points apiece.

“Coach Donovan told me if they play off me to just to shoot the jump shot so I started shooting jump shot and made a couple, which made it harder for them to guard me,” Randle said.

The USA outrebounded Argentina 44-27 as every member of the U.S. team registered at least two rebounds.

PHoto, release: USA Basketball

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Goodwin was a perfect 12-of-12 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line.

Goodwin’s 30-point outpouring was the third highest single game scoring effort in USA Basketball U18 Championship history. His 12-12 shooting set a U.S. mark for highest field goal percentage in a U18 game.

“I think the chemistry really just built up towards the second half. I knew our guards we’re going to push it so I basically just had to run the floor and they put me in the best position to score,” said Goodwin. “I’ve never had a game like that before and I didn’t realize (perfect shooting) it (tonight). I was just playing basketball, I don’t know, I was just at the right place at the right time.”

Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes added 19 points in the win and Duke signee Rasheed Sulaimon and uncommitted 2013 forward Julius Randle each tallied 12 points.

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Jarnell Stokes

He wanted to change his uniform number to 13.

Stokes hoped to honor Trey Erwin, a 15 year-old Collierville (Tenn.) High School football player who was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Erwin wears No. 13 on the football field.

“[Erwin] wore No. 13 in high school,” the 6-foot-8, 245-pound Stokes told SNY.tv by phone from Colorado Springs, Colo.  ”His wish was to come to a ballgame and to meet me and that just stuck with me as a college player. I don’t consider myself to be of high stature but I really want to help him out.”

As it turned out, Stokes will wear No. 14 in Brazil because his number request came in too late. Erwin and Stokes have met several times, including during a visit to the Tennessee campus in Knoxville. The Website Tailgate4thecure.org has various pictures of the two together. The Memphis Grizzlies also honored Erwin during a home game.

Stokes has another connection to cancer in that current Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin beat non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the late 1990s.

Stokes made the final 12-man roster for the U.S. U18 team and is the only current college player on the roster. He enrolled at Tennessee in January after graduating from Memphis Southwind High School early and played in 17 games with the Vols, averaging 9.6 points and 7.4 rebounds and being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

“It means a lot,” Stokes said of making the team. “It’s something a lot of guys don’t  get the chance to [wear a 'USA' jersey] but a lot of guys dream to wear it. When I got the invitation it was a no-brainer for me to play USA Basketball.”

Said Martin: “I think it’s a great achievement for Jarnell. He put the work in. He earned that honor. He’s probably the most veteran guy on the team. He’s the one guy that played in college. Has college experience.”

Still, Stokes said the altitude in Colorado was difficult to cope with while the team trained there.

“A lot of guys can’t want to leave this city because the altitude is killing everyone,” he said Monday. “It affected me a lot. I came down here in pretty good shape but I don’t feel like I’m in shape down here so I’m hoping it’s just the altitude but I’m pretty sure it is because everyone else is tired, too.”

Stokes has practiced against some strong teammates, including 2013 power forward Julius Randle, who has impressed Stokes with his work ethic.

“He’s a good player,” Stokes said. “He’s very bouncy. He’s athletic and the most important thing, he’s not selfish so he’s a good teammate. There’s no cockiness to him so he’s just like all the other guys. That’s what I like about him. He’s willing to learn and there’s no selfishness in his game.”

While some U18 players said they are hoping to recruit Randle to their college teams, Stokes is staying away from that.

“I’m not down here to recruit,” he said. “I’m just down here to win the gold medal. I’ll just leave that to my coaches.”

His head coach right now is SEC rival Billy Donovan, who unsuccessfully tried to recruit Stokes to Florida. But Stokes feels comfortable with Donovan and likes his style of ball.

“I pretty much know his style,” he said. “He likes pick and roll, get up a lot of shots, get up and down the floor. I wouldn’t mind being Patric Young or [Erik] Murphy because I like the way those guys play. I pretty much know the style. I scouted them and I still have [Donovan's] number from when he recruited me.”

Stokes ultimately chose Tennessee in part because of a desire to help his state university restore its image in the post-Bruce Pearl Era and to get them back to the NCAA Tournament.

He said the transition from high school to college ball last year was not as hard as he had expected.

“Coming in I thought i would just redshirt but then when I started practicing with the guys I realized i’m just as big, I’m just as fast, I’m just as skilled. so I just decided to play,” he said.

Tennessee lost to Middle Tennessee State in the second round of the NIT and Stokes hopes for better things this year.

“It still worked out but I think this experience of being here with the high school guys and coming into college next ear, it should be a no-brainer  that I’ll be 10 times better than what I would’ve been,” Stokes said.

Stokes said he’s not concerned with individual goals and simply wants Tennessee to challenge for the SEC championship.

“I’m looking to win the SEC so I’m not really looking at individual goals,” he said.

And even though he won’t wear No. 13 in Brazil, Stokes hopes to honor Trey Erwin will his play.

(Photos: Tailgate4thecure.org & Steven Maikoski, USA Basketball)

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Rasheed Sulaimon

All at the same time.

While trying out for — and ultimately making — the 12-man roster for the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, the 6-foot-4 Duke-bound shooting guard has been getting in the ear of 2013 players like Julius Randle and Austin Nichols.

“I’m talking to a lot of young guys and I’m talking to [2013 Duke commit] Matt Jones,” Sulaimon, out of Houston Strake Jesuit, told SNY.tv by phone from Colorado Springs, Colo. “He sees a lot of those guys at camps and stuff. Me and Matt are still working on a lot of 2013 guys to try get them to come down with us.”

Is Julius Randle one of his targets?

“Oh, yeah, definitely Julius,” Sulaimon said. “Of course, Julius, he’s from Texas. Ishmail Wainright [of Montrose Christian]. I was here this past weekend with Austin Nichols, so various number of guys.”

Randle made the final 12-man roster and and he and Sulaimon are among the players leaving Tuesday for the tournament in Brazil.

Randle previously told SNY.tv he has no list as of yet and is hearing from a Who’s Who of elite programs. He did say he could envision himself at North Carolina, Duke’s hated rival.

The 6-8 Nichols did not make the final cut but told SNY.tv he’s considering Duke, North Carolina, Tennessee, Memphis, Kansas, Ohio State, Florida and Virginia, among others.

Sulaimon is also pleased that Amile Jefferson pulled the trigger in the late signing period and chose Duke over Kentucky, Villanova, N.C. State and Ohio State.

“After he committed, I called him and congratulated and welcomed him to the Duke family,” he said. “And we’re really excited to get down there in July and work with the rest of the team and try to have a great season this upcoming year.”

And how much can the 6-8 Jefferson help Duke going forward?

“Oh, he can help us tremendously,” Sulaimon said of Jefferson. “He’s very athletic, very versatile, has a lot of length. And I think he can bring a lot to the table, both offensively and defensively.”

For now, Sulaimon is part of a deep group of Team USA guards that also includes N.C. State-bound Rodney Purvis, Oklahoma State commit Marcus Smart and 2013 North Carolina pledge Nate Britt.

“I’m playing mostly off the ball but these guards are great guards,” Sulaimon said. “We’re really pushing each other throughout practice. We’re really playing unselfish and trying to get good chemistry and trying to come together as a team.”

Like the other players, Sulaimon had to adjust to the altitude during training in Colorado.

“That first week when you run up and down the court, you’re breathing really hard,” he said. “It’s definitely something to get used to but it’s definitely going to help us when we get down there to Brazil.”

As the team heads out on its voyage, Sulaimon says he’s especially proud to represent the USA, especially since his father is Nigerian and his mother is Jamaican.

Said Sulaimon: “I’m truly thankful and honored and blessed to have the opportunity to go down to Brazil and represent my country to the best of our abilities and try to win the gold.”

Photo: ESPN

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“I thought everybody that was invited to try out was obviously a high-level player,” Shaka Smart, an assistant to head coach Billy Donovan with the U18s and the head coach at VCU, told SNY.tv Saturday afternoon by phone from Colorado Springs, Colo.

“There were 23 guys and we had to get it down to 12. There’s some really good players that obviously weren’t going to be a part of the team.”

Before the final cuts were announced, the 6-10 James told USA Basketball: “Like they said in the team meeting, ‘There are thousands of players in this country and only 23 were selected to even come to this training camp and only 12 make the team.’ You’ve got to be one of the elite players in the country to be able to represent a USA team. It’s great to even be in this atmosphere right now. It’s pretty cool.”

The final roster features: Nate Britt Jr. (Gonzaga H.S., D.C./Upper Marlboro, Md.); Sam Dekker (Sheboygan Lutheran H.S./Sheboygan, Wis.); Shaq Goodwin (Southwest DeKalb H.S./Decatur, Ga.); Jerami Grant (DeMatha Catholic/Bowie, Md.); Montrezl Harrell (Hargrave Military Academy/Tarboro, N.C.); Jake Layman (King Phillip Regional H.S./Wrentham, Mass.); Rodney Purvis (Upper Room Christian/Raleigh, N.C.); Julius Randle (Prestonwood Christian Academy/ McKinney, Texas); James Robinson (DeMatha Catholic H.S./Mitchellville, Md.); Marcus Smart (Marcus H.S./Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes (Memphis, Tenn.); and Rasheed Sulaimon (Strake Jesuit College Prep/Houston, Texas).

As reported here yesterday, the 6-9 Randle and the 6-3 Oklahoma State-bound Smart have been especially impressive.

The U.S. team will continue to train through June 11 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and will depart June 12 for the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Brazil.

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The 6-foot-9 forward from Eads (TN) Briarcrest Christian said he’s still adjusting to the high altitude workouts in Colorado Springs, Colo., but feels honored to be wearing a “USA” jersey across his chest.

“It’s always been my dream to play for the U.S. and if I make the team that would be awesome,” Nichols said by phone from Colorado Springs. But I just have to keep putting in the work and working hard.”

Nichols is part of a talented frontcourt group that also includes uncommitted Julius Randle, Wisconsin-bound Sam Dekker, Memphis signee Shaq Goodwin, Syracuse commit Jerami Grant, Louisville commit Montrezl Harrell, Maryland signee Jake Layman, North Carolina-bound Joel James and Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes.

“I consider it truly an honor and a blessing for me to even be nominated for trying out for the team,” Nichols said.

As far as colleges, Nichols says he’s considering Duke, North Carolina, Tennessee, Memphis, Kansas, Ohio State, Florida and Virginia, among others.

“Everybody’s working pretty hard right now, it’s just where I fit best in, the style of play, the coaches that are going to be there, the players that are going to be there, stuff like that,” said the Rivals No. 14 power forward in 2013. “I’ll probably end up signing this fall.”

He has taken unofficials to Vanderbilt and Tennessee and also has a good relationship with Memphis coach Josh Pastner.

“He’s a great coach, great program,” he said. “Shaq’s Goodwin going there next year, he’s a good friend of mine. Ever since I met with Pastner, he offered me my freshman year. He’s very close with me, he talks with me just about every month. I’d love to play for him, but I don’t know right now.”

Nichols said Tennessee is “also on my list. Coach [Cuonzo] Martin is a great coach, great program. Jarnell Stokes is one of my friends. He’s already had a year under his belt at Tennessee and I’ve heard that that it’s great. I just have to see.”

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Quite a few eyebrows were raised, for example, when the highly regarded Harrison twins were cut.

“I thought everybody that was invited to try out was obviously a high-level player,” Shaka Smart, an assistant to Donovan with the U18s and the head coach at VCU, told SNY.tv Saturday by phone from Colorado Springs, Colo.

“There were 23 guys and we had to get it down to 12. There’s some really good players that obviously weren’t going to be a part of the team. We’re at 14 right now and we still have to cut a couple more.”

Two guys who likely won’t get cut before the team departs Tuesday for the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Brazil are Marcus Smart (pictured at left) and Julius Randle, both of whom have impressed the staff.

“He’s been phenomenal,” Shaka Smart said of the 6-foot-3 Marcus Smart (no relation), an Oklahoma State-bound guard from Flower Mound, TX. “Really has led the team in a lot of statistical categories but also a lot of intangible categories, like energy, toughness. He’s plays a lot older than he is.”

The 6-8 Randle is the No. 1 power forward in the Class of 2013 and told SNY.tv this past week he has no college list, but could envision himself at North Carolina.

“Julius Randle is the most talented player here,” Smart said. “He’s got a chance to be a phenomenal player. He’s a year younger than Smart so obviously it’s more of a learning process for him before he gets out of college. He’s very coachable, he’s a very good teammate. And he’s a highly regarded player but what I didn’t know coming in is just how quick how he is for a guy that size. He has elite-level quickness, on any level for a 6-9 guy.

“I’m just a college coach so I don’t claim or want to be an expert on the NBA, but just based on other guys that I’ve seen or been around, I’ll say that he has a chance to be a very good NBA player.”

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And the Harrison twins — Andrew and Aaron — were not among them. The brothers, two of the elite players in the Class of 2013, were cut, along with Ryan Arcidiacono, Jabari Byrd, Robert Carter, Kris Dunn, Robert Upshaw, Troy Williams and Adam Woodbury.

The 14 finalists will continue to train through June 11 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.  The official 12-man 2012 USA Men’s U18 National Team will be selected prior to the team’s June 12 departure for the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, which will be played June 16-20 in Sao Sebastiáo do Paraiso, Brazil. Players eligible for this competition must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1994.

Named as a USA Men’s U18 National Team finalist were: Nate Britt Jr. (Gonzaga H.S., D.C./Upper Marlboro, Md.); Sam Dekker (Sheboygan Lutheran H.S./Sheboygan, Wis.); Shaq Goodwin (Southwest DeKalb H.S./Decatur, Ga.); Jerami Grant (DeMatha Catholic/Bowie, Md.); Montrezl Harrell (Hargrave Military Academy/Tarboro, N.C.); Joel James (Dwyer H.S./West Palm Beach, Fla.); Jake Layman (King Phillip Regional H.S./Wrentham, Mass.); Austin Nichols (Briarcrest H.S./Eads, Tenn.); Rodney Purvis (Upper Room Christian/Raleigh, N.C.); Julius Randle (Prestonwood Christian Academy/ McKinney, Texas); James Robinson (DeMatha Catholic H.S./Mitchellville, Md.); Marcus Smart (Marcus H.S./Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes (Memphis, Tenn.); and Rasheed Sulaimon (Strake Jesuit College Prep/Houston, Texas).

 ”This trials has been very difficult,” said USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee chair Jim Boeheim. ”You had 23 guys who all are really good players, there wasn’t a bad player here. To get down to 12 is going to be difficult but I think we’re going to end up with a really good athletic team that is going to be very well coached. I think we’ve got an unbelievable coaching staff. I think we’ve got guys that have won, been winners, won state championships, and I think they’ll represent USA Basketball extremely well in this tournament.”

Photo: USA Basketball

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The latest addition to the Louisville basketball team wants to get his new team back to the Final Four and help the Cardinals win a national championship.

“Right now I’m just worried about my freshman year and working hard and trying to help the Cardinals get back to the Final Four and hopefully we can get this championship,” Montrezl Harrell told Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com from the USA U18 trials in Colorado Springs.

Louisville won the Big East Tournament title a year ago and then lost to in-state rival Kentucky in the Final Four.

But with the return of most of their core plus the addition of the 6-8 Harrell, a former Virginia Tech pledge, the Cardinals could be a preseason No. 1 in some polls.

“We’re returning a lot of our team,” he said. “We really only lost two players and we’re returning a lot of our team. With the guys already there they have great chemistry together and by adding me I think we have a great shot to get back to the Final Four.”

Harrell said he was initially disappointed when Virginia Tech fired Seth Greenberg, putting him in limbo.

“It was kind of crazy at first,” he said. “It was crazy how they fired Coach Greenberg without giving a reason why.”

He then visited Louisville last weekend and chose the Cardinals in part because of his relationships with coach Rick Pitino and with assistant Kevin Keatts, his former Hargrave Military Academy coach.

“Louisville just kind of felt like home to me so that’s where I chose to play my freshman year of basketball,” he said.

Harrell has work to do to develop his offensive game but plans to bring “high energy” and the ability to rebound and block shots.

Harrell will join a front line that includes center Gorgui Dieng and forward Chane Behanan.

“They just told me to come in and work hard,” he said. “I’m going to end up getting a lot of minutes as a freshman.

“I could go in and potentially start. Depends on how hard I work. I’m just going there to work hard and help the team as much as I possibly can.”

Eventually, he plans to be in the NBA.

“It’s every kid’s dream to to get to the NBA,” he said. “That’s my ultimate goal, to go to the NBA.”

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