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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A process that began four days ago with 146 athletes is now down to 18 finalists hoping to grab a spot on the roster of the United States 16U National Team. Announced this morning, the 18 finalists will now begin practice and preparation for the 2019 FIBA Americas 16U Championship slated for June 16 – 22 in Puerto Aysen, Chile.  Coach Mark Campbell and his staff along with USA Basketball will also be looking to find the right combination of 12 players to successfully defend the Gold Medal the US has claimed in four of five FIBA Americas 16U events.  Eight practices are scheduled across the remainder of the week with the final roster to be named before camp breaks Friday.

The size range among the finalists extends from 6-7 post Lauren Betts (2022 – Centennial, Colo.) to 5-6 point guard Londynn Jones (2022 – Riverside, California).  As a whole the roster averages just a fraction over 6-1 combined. The narrowed pool of talent features 10 members of the 2021 class as well as 8 more graduating in 2022.  While 26 of the original collection of prospects were 2023 class members, none made their way into the final group.  Two, JuJu Watkins (2023 – Los Angeles) and Sammi Wagner (2023 – San Antonio, Texas) did make their way into the critical sessions Sunday.  USA basketball invited 33 athletes initially with the rest of the field coming from the applicant program.  Just one applicant athlete remains in contention for a final roster spot.  Raven Johnson (2021 – Atlanta, Ga.), a 5-9 guard, is looking for the glass slipper this time around.  There are 14 states represented among the finalists.  Georgia leads the way with three while Maryland and New York each claim two.  Blue Star 30 is represented by 10 members among the last group vying for a roster spot.

Below are action images of all 18 finalists from across the trials which began last Thursday and led into a pair of deciding workouts Sunday for the final narrowed pool of 42.

Follow the links below to earlier coverage from Blue Star Media and the USA Basketball U16 Trials.

https://bluestarmedia.org/2019-usa-basketball-u16-trials/

https://bluestarmedia.org/usa-basketball-next-generation/

https://bluestarmedia.org/the-first-cut-is-the-deepest/

https://bluestarmedia.org/watching-the-selection-process/

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Mark Lewis is a national evaluator and photographer for Blue Star Basketball as well as the lead columnist for Blue Star Media. Twice ranked as one of the top 25 Division I assistant coaches in the game by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), he logged 25 years of college coaching experience at Memphis State, Cincinnati, Arizona State, Western Kentucky and Washington State. Lewis serves as a member of the prestigious McDonald’s All-American selection committee as well as the Naismith College Player and Coach of the Year committees.

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