USA - 2006 USA Men's U18 national team roster

SAN ANTONIO (FIBA Americas U18 Championship) - Including four team members who boast of prior USA Basketball experience, head coach Lorenzo Romar and USA Basketball announced Monday the 12-member USA Men's 18 National Team that will compete in the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men from June 28-July 2 in San Antonio, Texas.

"Our athleticism is a strength," Romar said about his USA Men's U18 National Team. "I think that we've got pretty good team chemistry. Our guys don't mind giving up their bodies for the sake of the team, and I think we shoot the ball pretty well. Defense will be the key for us. When we sit back defensively things don't work out well for us. We've got to be on the attack mode.

"It will be important that we are able to defend at five positions," said Romar about his team's opening opponent Uruguay. "Uruguay will try to spread us out, and they will have five guys on the floor that can shoot well at all times. So we've got to be able to guard the three and keep them in front of us."

The USA Basketball U18 team members are: Chris Allen (Meadowcreek H.S., Ga./Michigan State); Jerryd Bayless (St. Mary's H.S., Ariz./Undecided); Michael Beasley (Oak Hill Academy, Va../Undecided); Johnny Flynn (Niagara Falls H.S., N.Y./Syracuse); Donte Greene (Towson Catholic H.S, Md./Syracuse); Spencer Hawes (Seattle Prep, Wash./Washington); Taylor King (Mater Dei H.S., Calif./ Duke); Stanley Robinson (Huffman H.S., Ala./Connecticut); Kyle Singler (South Medford H.S., Ore./ Undecided); Nolan Smith (Oak Hill Academy, Va./Duke); DaJuan Summers (McDonogh School, Md./Georgetown); and Lance Thomas (St. Benedict's H.S., N.J./Undecided).

University of Washington mentor Romar is heading the USA's U18 Team, and Georgia Tech head mentor Paul Hewitt and DePaul University (Ill.) head coach Jerry Wainwright are assisting.

Hawes was a member of the 2006 USA Basketball's Junior National Select Team and recorded eight points and three rebounds in the USA's 109-91 win over the World Select Team on April 8 in the 9th Annual Nike Hoop Summit in Memphis, Tenn.

Additionally, Robinson, Singler and Thomas were all participants on USA teams in the 2005 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival held in San Diego, Calif. Singler helped lead the White Team to a gold medal at the Youth Development Festival, averaging 14.0 ppg. and 3.4 rpg., while shooting 60.0 percent from the floor and 47.1 percent from 3-point. Robinson finished the Festival averaging 9.0 ppg. and a USA Red Team leading 5.8 rpg. and 2.2 spg., while USA Blue Team member Thomas posted 9.0 ppg., 4.3 rpg. and 1.8 spg.

The USA U18 finalists will continue their training with practices on June 26 and 27 before opening FIBA Americas U18 Championship play against Uraguay at 7 p.m. on June 28 at Bill Greehy Arena, St. Mary's University.

2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Men

The 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, which will qualify the top four finishing teams for the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship, is being held at the Bill Greehey Arena on the campus of St. Mary's University in San Antonio from June 28-July 2.

The FIBA Americas U18 Championship format divides the eight teams into two preliminary round groups consisting of four teams each. Preliminary round play will be held June 28, 29 and 30, and each team will play the other three teams in its preliminary group. The top two finishing teams in each preliminary round group will then advance to the Saturday, July 1, medal round semifinals and play for 1st-4th places. Teams placing third and fourth in each preliminary round group will advance to the consolation semifinals and play for 5th-8th places. The FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Men Finals will be held Sunday, July 2.

The host nation United States was drawn into preliminary round Group A with Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, while Group B consists of Argentina, Bahamas, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Originally known as the FIBA Americas Junior World Championship Qualifier, the tournament has been held every four years since 1990. USA men's teams boast of a sensational 25-1 overall record in the U18/junior qualifiers and have won gold in 1990, 1994 and 1998, while capturing bronze most recently in 2002. The awarding of the U18 Championship For Men to USA Basketball and San Antonio marks the first time the event has been hosted in the United States.

Some of the top players who have represented the United States in past U18 tournaments include Shareef Abdur-Rahim (1994); Carmelo Anthony (2002); Chris Bosh (2002); Dee Brown (2002); Nick Collison (1998); Grant Hill (1990); Allan Houston (1990); Andre Iguodala (2002); Stephon Marbury (1994); Mike Miller (1998); Quentin Richardson (1998); and Deron Williams (2002).

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