Still, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Michigan’s John Beilein, Purdue’s Matt Painter, South Carolina’s Frank Martin, Indiana’s Archie Miller, Iowa’s Fran McCaffery and assistants from a slew of other high-major programs stayed, many till the bitter end. “It’s the USA playing and we’re recruiting,” said one high-major assistant coach who stayed until the bitter end. “If it wasn’t the USA, we probably wouldn’t be here.”The @usabasketball U18 team is now up 45-0 on Panama. pic.twitter.com/52Xz9o563z
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 12, 2018
Of the 12 players on the USA roster, only five are committed — Maxey (Kentucky), Dosunmu (Illinois), Coby White (North Carolina), Quentin Grimes (Kansas,) and Kamaka Hepa (Texas). That leaves seven high-profile players who are being recruited at the highest levels — Anthony, Bacot, Jackson-Davis, Matthew Hurt, Josiah James, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Rocket Watts. For the coaches on hand, future conference titles, NCAA Tournament runs, NCAA championship and contract extensions may well be decided, at least in part, by where these players land. So they came to the game — and talked and laughed with each other, took pictures with fans and generally tried to fight off the boredom. Just so these top players could see them there. “The coaches who were at the game to make sure the players know they want them and are at the game,” Kansas and Team USA coach Bill Self said when I asked him about their motivation for being there. “I don’t think there was much evaluation going on in that game, but certainly to show that they were there. But I think the players did a good job of not playing to that. They did a good job of playing to each other and sharing the ball.” Things should get tougher on Tuesday when the U.S. plays Puerto Rico (2-0). Looking ahead looms a potential gold-medal game with Canada (2-0). “Yeah, Puerto Rico beat the Dominican pretty handily and we struggled with the Dominican [Monday] night until the fourth quarter,” Self said. “That will be a good game, and they can shoot. Hopefully we can pressure them out of being comfortable.” Self and his staff also watched Canada earlier Monday when they beat Ecuador, 115-75. “I was really impressed,” he said. “They’re really athletic and really fast and they have multiple, multiple high-major guys. They have three or four players who could player anywhere in the country. They’re really athletic and they get the ball down hill. If we get an opportunity to play them, we’ll probably have to play our best game.” At least that figures to be more entertaining for the players — and the coaches.Here are some video ‘highlights’ of the USA’s 118-26 win over Panamá last night via @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/8RFG5IORSR
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 12, 2018