EGY - Amin, Oraby and Samhan uncertain for Spain 2014
CAIRO (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Egypt head coach Amr Aboul Kheir has announced his preliminary squad for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup without confirming the presence of Ehab Amin, Omar Oraby and
CAIRO (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Egypt head coach Amr Aboul Kheir has announced his preliminary squad for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup without confirming the presence of Ehab Amin, Omar Oraby and Omar Samhan.
Amin, who led the North African country in scoring with 15.7 points per game at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship, has committed to pursue his academic and basketball career at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and might have to report to school prior to the World Cup.
"As of today (Saturday 26 July) I don't know if he will be the team for the remained of the training camp, but I have to understand his position, although I would like to see him continuing working with the national team," Aboul Kheir explained to FIBA.com.
Amin, an explosive 1.86m point guard who's made his name on the African continent in recent years and is often projected to make an impact for the Egyptian senior team, is one of the players coach Aboul Kheir hopes to select for next year's AfroBasket, which remains Egypt's top priority.
As for seven-footer Oraby, who played for the Houston Rockets at the Las Vegas Summer League, Aboul Kheir says he could be an asset for Egypt once his professional career is decided.
Meanwhile, Samhan has been invited to join the team but has not confirmed his presence.
In the wake of the team's preparations, Egypt last week played three warm-up games on Serbian soil, registering a win and a defeat against Belarus, followed by another loss to Switzerland.
"These are not top European teams, but these games help us to improve our quality," said Aboul Kheir.
From the group of players that finished second at the AfroBasket 2013, nine remain in the preliminary squad, while Anas Mahmoud - who committed to play for the Louisville University - Ahmed Baraka and Abou-Khadra Ibrahim have been left out.
At the FIBA Basketball World Cup, Egypt will take on hosts Spain, Brazil, France, Serbia and Iran in Granada's Group A.
Egypt preliminary squad for FIBA Basketball World Cup: Ashraf Rabea, Ibrahim El Gammal, Sheriff Abdalla, Moamen Abou El Einen, Assem Marei, Wael Khedr, Haytham Khalifa, Mouhanad El Sabag, Rami Abdalla, Seif Samir, Mohamed Bassiouny, Amir El Gendy, Ehab Amin, Mohamed Ell-Ithy, Yossef Sousha and Mostafa Mekawy.
FIBA