HERAKLION, GREECE—USA Basketball U19 coach Bruce Weber has been following Jeremiah Robinson-Earl’s career since ninth grade when he led Bishop Minge of Kansas City to the first of three consecutive Kansas state championships, then tried his best to recruit him.
“The kid has been a winner everywhere he played,” Weber said.
The 6-8, 205-pound Robinson-Earl eventually left the state to play against upgraded competition during his senior year at IMG Academy in Sarasota, Florida where he made the McDonald’s All-American team, led his team to the GEICO Prep School Invitational after signing with 2018 national champion Villanova, choosing the Cats over both K-State and Kansas.
The two have been re-united for the past two and a half weeks where Robinson-Earl has turned into one of the stars on an unselfish US youth team that advanced to the final game of this age group World Championship here, dispatching Lithuania, 102-67, with surprising ease Saturday night.
The Americans will play emerging African power Mali, the best story of youth basketball this summer for the gold medal Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Heraklion Indoor Sports Arena. The game will be televised live online at ESPN plus.
Robinson-Earl, one of the most versatile players on this deep, athletic 6-0 team, finished with 13 points and 10 rebound as the Americans used a 15-0 run early in the third quarter to turn a 44-32 halftime lead into a convincing 61-35 lead. “I’ve known coach for since ninth grade,’’ he said. “He’s had a lot of great players and he’s coached a championship team at K-State and his Illinois team played for the national championship in 2005. I really like playing in his system, but I think I can adjust to a lot of systems.’’
Robinson-Earl has type of basketball IQ as Jalen Brunson, the last Villanova player to play for a US U19 team in 2015. He is not the only star on this relatively young team. Guard Jalen Green of Prolific Prep finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Point guard Jalen Suggs of Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis added 15 points and six steals. Sophomore guard Kira Lewis of Alabama had 11 points on 4 for 4 shooting with three threes. Sophomore guard Isaac Likekele of Oklahoma State added 10 points and sophomore guard Tyrese Haliburton of Iowa State had seven of the Americans’ 23 assists.
“We’ve had a number of games where we’ve had 20 or more assists,’’ Robinson said. “We have an unselfish team. One of the best things about this team is the way we’ve bonded off the court. There are no cancers on this team.’’
The USA finished the game shooting 45.1 percent from the field (41 for 91) while holding Lithuania to 36.4 percent and won the rebounding battle, 587-38. They played at a relentless pace, transforming 22 Lithuania turnovers into 28 points, as well as recording 50 points in the paint and 54 points off the bench.
The USA will go into his championship game as the favorite. But Mali, the first African team to play in a U19 final, is confident after defeating France, 76-73, in the other semi-final. “This was huge for Mali, but it was also big for the entire continent of Africa,’’ Mali’s 6-10, 16-year old center Oumar Ballo, a Gonzaga recruit who missed the first two games of this tournament, finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds with four blocked shots. “This is an historic victory for us. And we’re not done yet. This is not the end, only the beginning. We want to make our families proud of us.’’
Fousseyni Drame, a 6-7 forward, also had 17 points and 11 rebounds while his 6-7 twin brother Hassan added 13 points and 8 rebounds.
“Our guys could hear them in the other locker room after the game,’’ Weber said. “They were excited. So, our guys know what to expect.’’
Mali is intent on making history. They represented Africa in this same age group tournament in 2017 and did not win a game, finishing 16th. The previous best result for an African team was 11th—done three times by Nigeria and twice by Egypt.
Mali has a big front line with Ballo, the Drame twins and 6-8 Abdoul Karim Coulbay with solid point guard play from 17-year old Siriman Kanoute. “From what we’ve heard, they’re a better version of Senegal—big, athletic,’’ Robinson-Earl said. “But if we play our game, we should be fine. We’re eager to play them.’’
