COLORADO SPRINGS. Colo.—Wednesday brought the final two workouts for the 18 hopefuls for the USA Basketball U17 National Team slated to compete for the FIBA World Championship beginning July 21stin Minsk, Belarus.
The selection process began last Thursday with 35 invited athletes and 133 players attending through the USA Basketball “open” participation process. The list went from 158 to 102 to 70 to 45 and ultimately the 18 looking to claim one of the 12 final roster spots. That list was announced Monday morning and followed with two workouts that day, two more both Tuesday and Wednesday leading to the final and hardest cut of all. Below are the 12 members announced Wednesday evening as members of the 2018 USA Basketball U17 National Team.
Fran Belibi – 6-1 – 2019 – Regis Jesuit – Centennial, CO
Aliyah Boston. – 6-4 – 2019 – Worcester Academy – Worcester, MA
Cameron Brink – 6-4 – 2020 – Southridge – Beaverton, OR
Samantha Brunelle – 6-2 – 2019 – William Monroe – Ruckersville, VA
Paige Bueckers – 5-11 – 2020 – Hopkins – St. Louis Park, MN
Zia Cooke – 5-9 – 2019 – Rogers – Toledo, OH
Azzi Fudd – 5-11 – 2021 – St. John’s College – Arlington, VA
Jordan Horston – 6-0 – 2019 – Columbus Africentric – Columbus, OH
Haley Jones – 6-1 – 2019 – Archbishop Mitty – Santa Cruz, CA
Charisma Osborne – 5-9 – 2019 – Windward School – Moreno Valley, CA
Celeste Taylor – 5-11 – 2019 – Long Island Lutheran – Valley Stream, NY
Hailey Van Lith – 5-9 – 2020 – Cashmere – Wenatchee, WA
Eight members of the 2017 gold medal 16U FIBA Americas championship return joining four newcomers. The 2019 class takes eight roster spots, three come from the 2020 class with the final spot being Azzi Fudd of the 2021’s. Fran Belibi has verballed with Stanford, Samantha Brunelle to Notre Dame and Celeste Taylor has committed to the University of Texas. Nine states are represented with two athletes each coming from California, Ohio and Virginia.
A link is provided below to the official press release provided by USA Basketball.
https://www.usab.com/news-events/news/2018/05/wu17-team-named.aspx
To see earlier coverage of the 18 athletes the final roster was chosen from follow the links below.
https://bluestarmedia.org/one-last-look-at-the-usa-u17-finalists/
https://bluestarmedia.org/2018-usa-basketball-u17-national-team-finalists/
ANNUAL “AUDITION” AMENDMENT
YEARLY RANT BELONGING TO MARK LEWIS ALONE – DOES NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF BLUE STAR, USJN, BLUE STAR MEDIA OR PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
I have been on hand from the start of many of the USA Basketball Trials over the years and it’s always amusing, entertaining and most of all…disappointing once the final rosters are been announced. Not in the selection, not at all. It’s the ridiculous, unfounded and embarrassing response from those on peripheral of the sport (families, coaches, evaluators, media etc..) that never ceases to amaze me. The complete failure to understand the nature and task of the selection process always leads to the old cliché’ that “it’s better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt”. I get that everyone has a favorite, a bias or an agenda of their own. I get that we have “experts” whose only experience lies in watching, writing, tweeting about a process they’ve never actually participated in. What I don’t get is the lack of effort to understand…and accept… exactly what is going on in Colorado Springs. Hopefully we’ll all do better this time around.
While it’s just my opinion, I’ll stand by it each and every time…and I’ve written it year after year. This isn’t a “try-out”, it’s an audition. Today’s announcement represents who has been selected to play a “role” in what is hoped to be a winning script in Belarus next month. Many, many times some of the best performers, by normal scholastic and collegiate definitions, don’t get the opportunity to wear red, white and blue. Moriah Jefferson was cut more than once. Kelsey Mitchell showed up, lit it up and packed up. Was it a reflection on them or their game? Of course not. Their basketball speaks for itself. With every “trials / Audition” there are going to be some great performances that don’t translate into the international game or the needs and mix of the team as a whole. The staff has to feel the connection with the athletes as well and while the selection committee has tough job of narrowing it down don’t think for a moment that there’s no input from those who will be tasked with going out and winning the gold. They know what lies in front of them including the competition they’ll face, something many of those with opinions lack.
The asinine comparisons of the performances among the participants at the trials lacks validity when you really don’t know the specifics of what is being looked for in a certain team and the competition scheduled in front of them. It also demeans the achievements of those chosen as if they were less deserving or put in less effort. That’s where the “embarrassing” part comes in. Congratulate and wish the best for those chosen. Forget the accusations of politics, agendas and expert analysis by those who never sat on the bench themselves. I’ll leave myself out of this one as well. I have 25 years of collegiate coaching experience under my belt and over 10 years in basketball media but it doesn’t remotely qualify me to critique, analyze or condemn the selection of an international team. I never coached the international game, have not attended FIBA championships and simply do not have the experience or knowledge to stand in judgement of those who do. And for the record, showing up at a few trials or making just a trip or two overseas doesn’t quite measure up or give you the credentials to do so as well.
I’ll stand back and say I enjoyed this trails as much as any I’ve ever attended. The always tough job of the selection committee was compounded by the extraordinary depth of talent in this age group. On the other hand, they weren’t exactly lacking for options at any position. A nice problem to have in any selection process. The level of competition provided those of us on the sidelines some great insight into players we already knew…some we had heard of…and even a couple that we had no idea even existed previously. And it did so in the context of what we do, not the international aspect. We can leave that to those who have a more complete grasp of the task at hand. As an old coach I will say if any individual competed in the trials and didn’t go home a better player then you wasted your time…including those who made the team. It’s hard not to walk into such a completive situation and not elevate your game. Disappointment I understand, but bitter complaints or rationalizations of politics etc… only prove that, in the end, they made the right decision. Get back to work.
