EuroBasket 2017 quintet headlines Italy's 16-player squad for Qualifiers
ROME (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - The Italian Basketball Federation on Tuesday named a 16-player preliminary squad ahead of their World Cup Qualifiers against Romania and Croatia
ROME (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - The Italian Basketball Federation (FIP) on Tuesday named a 16-player preliminary squad ahead of their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers against Romania and Croatia.
The federation revealed the list, which includes five players - Awudu Abass, Pietro Aradori, Paul Biligha, Christian Burns and Ariel Filloy - that helped the Azzurri to a 7th-place finish at FIBA EuroBasket 2017.
| Italy preliminary squad for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers | |||
| Awudu Abass | Pietro Aradori | Paul Biligha | Christian Burns |
| Andrea Crosariol | Amedeo Della Valle | Ariel Filloy | Diego Flaccadori |
| Simone Fontecchio | Raphael Gaspardo | Alessandro Gentile | Marco Giuri |
| Antonio Iannuzzi | Achille Polonara | Brian Sacchetti | Luca Vitali |
Alessandro Gentile returns to the national team after last featuring at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2016, while Andrea Crosariol is in Italy's fold for the first time in six years.
Meanwhile, these are first time call-ups to the senior national side for Raphael Gaspardo, Marco Giuri, Antonio Iannuzzi and Brian Sacchetti.
.@FIBAWC Qualifiers. I 16 per il raduno di Torino (20-23/11). Solo 12 vs Romania (24/11) e Croazia (26/11) Ticketing https://t.co/Pp8vbotCDY pic.twitter.com/SsDTk9Ngjk
— Italbasket (@Italbasket) November 7, 2017
Filippo Baldi Rossi, Andrea de Nicolao, David Albright Okeke, Giampaolo Ricci and Andrea Zerini are on standby to fill in for any of the 16 players in the squad.
Italy open their qualifying campaign for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 by hosting Romania in Turin on November 24, before facing Croatia in Zagreb two days later.
FIBA