Following a three-day training camp featuring 30 members of the 2013-14 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team, 16 finalists were announced for the 2013 USA Basketball U16 National Team.
The roster will be pared down to 12 before the squad departs on June 7 for the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, which will be played June 11-15 in Maldonado, Uruguay.
The finalists, who must be 16-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1997) and a U.S. citizen to be eligible for this team, were selected by the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Committee.
Named as finalists to the 2013 U.S. U16 squad were: Thomas Bryant, pictured at left (Bishop Kearney H.S. / Rochester, N.Y.); Bryant Crawford (Gonzaga College H.S. (DC) / Kensington, Md.); Henry Ellenson (Rice Lake H.S. / Rice Lake, Wis.); Terrance Ferguson (Prime Prep Academy / Flower Mound, Texas); Daniel Giddens (Wheeler H.S. / Mableton, Ga.); Harry Giles (Wesleyan Christian Academy / Winston-Salem, N.C.); Mustapha Heron (Wilbraham & Monson Academy / West Haven, Conn.); Josh Jackson (Consortium College Prep / Southfield, Mich.); V.J. King (St. Vincent – St. Mary H.S. / Akron, Ohio); Malik Monk (East Poinsett County H.S. / Lepanto, Ark.); Malik Newman (Callaway H.S. / Jackson, Miss.); 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.); Jayson Tatam (Chaminade College Prep / St. Louis, Mo.) and Seventh Woods (Hammond School / Columbia, S.C.).
“Without question, of all the developmental camps we’ve had, this had the greatest depth and was probably one of the most competitive situations we’ve had over three days,” said USA Basketball Men’s National Team Director Sean Ford, who is the non-voting chair of the USA Developmental National Team Committee.
“We felt that 16 was a number that we needed to get to in order to get a closer look at players. I think it’s a credit to the players and their effort that we did get to 16 and I think it was a reward to them as well. These are players who deserve to be a part of the next group. That said, there wasn’t a player in the camp that we wouldn’t feel comfortable putting in a USA Basketball uniform.”
“Obviously the strength of this team is its depth,” said USA Basketball veteran head coach Don Showalter (Iowa City H.S., Iowa). “When you look at these 30 players, they all have some very good athletic ability and some very strong game talents. To cut this down further is very difficult.
“When trying to get to a final team, you always look at how well you can defend. I think that’s going to be a key factor. You also look at what players can play multiple positions, because you like to have players who can play more than one position. Internationally, that really helps us. And then of course, strength on the boards is a big factor as well and obviously you also want some shooters in that bunch.”
For more features on the U16 team, click here.
Photo/Release: USA Basketball
