By JACOB POLACHECK
The 2021 USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Cup Team roster was announced Thursday night, featuring a total of 12 players.
The roster will feature six class of 2021 high school seniors and six players who have completed their first collegiate season.
Named to the USA U19 World Cup Team were: Patrick Baldwin Jr. (Hamilton H.S./Sussex, Wis.); Kennedy Chandler (Sunrise Christian Academy, Kan./Memphis, Tenn.); Jonathan Davis (Wisconsin/La Crosse, Wis.); Caleb Furst (Blackhawk Christian School/Fort Wayne, Ind.); Chet Holmgren (Minnehaha Academy/Minneapolis, Minn.); Harrison Ingram (St. Mark’s School/Dallas, Texas); Jaden Ivey (Purdue/South Bend, Ind.); Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton/St. Louis, Mo.); Kenneth Lofton Jr. (Louisiana Tech/Port Arthur, Texas); Mike Miles (TCU/Lancaster, Texas); Adam Miller (Louisiana State/Chicago, Ill.); and Peyton Watson (Long Beach Poly Tech H.S./Long Beach, Calif).
“This week has been very fulfilling so far, and the process of selecting this 12-player group was really difficult given the amount of talent we have had at training camp,” USA and TCU head coach Jamie Dixon said. “Everyone has been working hard, we are growing closer as a group, which is really important. I am excited about the team that the committee put together as we now prepare to head overseas to Latvia and compete for a gold medal.
“Although the committee had to make some tough decisions in the selection process, we are thrilled with the potential this team brings to the court, its length, basketball IQ, defensive prowess and offensive abilities should make us a strong team, and I am looking forward to the challenge of competing in the U19 World Cup in July. For some of our guys, it will be the first time leaving the country and everyone is excited about having the honor of representing their country.”
The team will be led by Dixon with Stanford head coach Jerod Haase and Yale head coach James Jones serving as assistants. Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton, University of North Texas head coach Grant McCasland and Towson University head coach Pat Skerry have been serving at the U19 World Cup training camp as court coaches.
The USA Men’s U19 World Cup training camp began June 20 with 26 athletes, 17 finalists were named on June 21, and the official team was selected following 10 training sessions held at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. The team will continue training on the TCU campus through Monday, June 28, then travel to Riga, Latvia for the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup that will be played July 3-11.
Featuring U19 teams from 16 nations, the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup includes in addition to the USA and host Latvia, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, France, Japan, Lithuania, Mali, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Serbia, South Korea, Spain and Turkey.
The USA was drawn into Group D, alongside Australia, Mali and Turkey for the July 3-6 FIBA U19 World Cup preliminary round. The USA will open play against Turkey on July 3 (10:30 a.m. EDT), followed by Mali on July 4 (1:30 p.m EDT) and close preliminary play against Australia on July 6 (1:30 p.m. EDT).
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