The USA Men's Under 19 National Basketball Team is Announced

The roster is set for the USA men's under 19 national basketball team. The team was narrowed down from 18 to 12 players who participated in the World Championship Trials that were held in Dallas, TX. The team will represent the US in the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championships that will take place in Novi Sad, Serbia from July 12-22.

The roster includes eight players who recently completed their freshman season of college and four that just finished senior seasons in high school. The college players are Patrick Beverley (Arkansas); Darrell Arthur (Kansas); Matt Bouldin (Gonzaga); Stephen Curry (Davidson); David Lighty (Ohio State); Raymar Morgan (Michigan State); Tajuan Porter (Oregon); and Deon Thompson (North Carolina).The high schoolers include Michael Beasley (Frederick MD); Jonny Flynn (Niagara Falls NY); Donte' Greene (Baltimore MD); and DeAndre Jordan (Humble TX).

The National team is coached by Jerry Wainwright , who is the head coach at Depaul University.He stated that he was "excited about the attitude that the kids brought to Dallas.I think in a very short period all of the kids attending the trials understood the significance of what faced them and because of that they all approached the trials as if they were part of the team.

Joining Wainwright on the coaching staff are Bruiser Flint of Drexel University and Karl Hobbs from George Washington University. The team practiced on Saturday from 2-4 and will practice again on Sunday from 10-12. They will then square off against a very tough China National Team on July 1 at Moody Coliseum on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. The China National Team will be a very good test for the young USA squad. China is headlined by a front court that includes Yao Ming who is 7-6 and 6-11 YI Jianlian who was recently picked number six in the NBA draft. China finished eighth in the 2004 Olympics and ninth in the 2006 FIBA World Championships.

Starting on July 5 the team will be playing in the 2007 Global Games in Dallas at SMU's Moody Coliseum. They will open play against the African team on July 5 and then play the Puerto Rican team on July 6. Play will end on Saturday with the Championship game.The team will then move on to Novi Sad, Serbia where they will be playing in pool play against the likes of Serbia, Mali, and China who are all in Group B. The top three teams from groups A and B will face off in round robin play and the top three teams from Groups C and D will do likewise.The USA Teams are 45-10 in this tournament. They have won three gold medals and two silver medals in the seven U19 Junior World Championships that they have participated in.They finished fifth in the 2003 tournament with a 7-1 record.

Some notable athletes that have represented the USA in this tournament include Dee Brown, Vince Carter,JJ Redick, James Worthy, Gary Payton, Stephon Marbury, Larry Johnson, Sam Perkins .Stacy Augmon, Paul Davis, Kevin Pittsnogle and Deron Williams

Source: Hogwired.com