Defending champs USA nominate talented and big but inexperienced team

 COLORADO SPRINGS (United States) - USA Basketball announced its 27-man preliminary squad for the training camp for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021, with the group featuring lots of talent and size but lacking in international experience.

None of the 27 invitees to the camp, which runs from June 20-22, have played for the United States in a FIBA 5x5 competition. Devin Askew, however, helped the Americans win the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup 2019 title. Askew is also one of 12 players who participated in at least one USA Basketball Junior National Team minicamp in the past.

United States' preliminary roster for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021
Devin Askew	Patrick Baldwin Jr.	Kendall Brown	Kennedy Chandler	Jonathan Davis
Derek Fountain	Caleb Furst	Jordan Hall	Chet Holmgren	Harrison Ingram
Jaden Ivey	Dishon Jackson	Meechie Johnson	Ryan Kalkbrenner	Trey Kaufman-Renn
Zed Key	Kenneth Lofton Jr.	Langston Love	Mike Miles	Adam Miller
Trey Patterson	Hunter Sallis	Deivon Smith	Dalen Terry	Jabari Walker
Peyton Watson	Jaylin Williams

Kennedy Chandler took part in the United States training camp ahead of the FIBA U16 Americas Championship but did not make the team while Adam Miller was a finalist for the Americans’ team for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018.

The man in charge of the 27 players hopes he can use his experience to make up for their lack of it. Head coach Jamie Dixon was the play caller for the United States that won the U19 crown in 2009, guiding a team that included Klay Thompson, Seth Curry and Gordon Hayward. 

This USA team might not have international experience, but there is some fantastic talent and size included in the player pool.

"Aside from the Olympics and World Cups, the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup is the most challenging competition on the international calendar, and it will take a team of dedicated, selfless individuals to go to Latvia and try to win gold," said Matt Painter, chair of the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee. "The committee feels we have a strong group of players coming into camp in June in hopes of securing a spot on the U19 team and I'm looking forward to watching them fight to be a part of this USA Basketball team."

In addition to Askew, the team will most likely be headed by Chet Holmgren, the most decorated high school senior in the country. He picked up awards by the bundles for 2021, including the National Player of the Year from Sports Illustrated All-American, Morgan Wootten Naismith, MaxPreps and McDonald’s All-American. The 2021 Minnesota Mr. Basketball, Holmgren helped Minnehaha Academy to a fourth straight Minnesota state high school title.

Holmgren was the number one player from the 2021 high school class in the United States but the nominees also include five more ranked in the top 15: Patrick Baldwin Jr (No. 4), Chandler (No. 8), Peyton Watson (No. 10), Hunter Sallis (No. 14) and Kendall Brown (No. 15).

Those are six of the 10 nominees who will be college rising freshmen going into the 2021-22 season. The other 17 players played college this past season.  Holmgren and Sallis will be playing for Gonzaga while the duo of Brown and Langston Love will join the freshly-crowned NCAA champs Baylor in the autumn. Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn will start their college careers at Purdue, where they will join fellow nominee Jaden Ivey, who was one of just six freshmen nationally to have 250 points, 75 rebounds, 40 assists and 15 blocked shots.

Ivey also became just the second freshman since 1992-93 (Michigan State's Miles Bridges) to average 10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and have at least 12 blocked shots in Big Ten Conference games only as he was named to the 2021 Big Ten Conference All-Freshman Team.

 
Part of the talent of the USA offering will be a strong selection of big players. Holmgren and Ryan Kalkbrenner both are 7-footers while Baldwin, Furst, Dishon Jackson and Jaylin Williams all stand 6ft 10in (2.08m).

United States has been drawn into Group D along with Turkey, Mali and Australia for the tournament in Daugavpils and Riga from July 3-11.

FIBA