COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The waiting is always the hardest part … so is paring down four players from a talented pool from the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team training camp.
The 16 finalists were announced for the 2013 USA Basketball U16 Men’s National Team that departs on June 7 for the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, which will be played June 11-15 in Maldonado, Uruguay.
The finalists are:
Thomas Bryant of Bishop Kearney (Rochester, N.Y.); Bryant Crawford of Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.); Henry Ellenson of Rice Lake (Wis.); Terrance Ferguson of Prime Prep Academy (Dallas); Daniel Giddens of Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.); Harry Giles of Wesleyan Christian (Winston-Salem, N.C.); Mustapha Heron of Wilbraham (Mass.) and Monson Academy; Josh Jackson of Consortium College Prep (Detroit); V.J. King of St. Vincent – St. Mary (Akron, Ohio); Malik Monk of East Poinsett County (Lepanto, Ark.); Malik Newman of Callaway (Jackson, Miss.); Ivan Rabb of Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland, Calif.); Devearl Ramsey of Sierra Canyon (Los Angeles); Diamond Stone of Dominican (Milwaukee); Jayson Tatam of Chaminade (St. Louis); and Seventh Woods of 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.”
“Obviously the strength of this team is its depth,” said USA Basketball veteran head coach Don Showalter from Iowa City, 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,” he added.
Of the 14 states represented, only two, California and Wisconsin, are represented with two athletes apiece. Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina Ohio, South Carolina and Texas each have one athlete among the final group. Several players are on the Blue Star Media Watch List.
The U.S. opens play against Mexico on June 11, followed by South American rival Argentina on June 12 and caps the preliminary round with a June 13 contest against Bahamas. Teams will be seeded following preliminary round play and semifinals are scheduled for June 14, with the finals played on June 15.
