Captain Tchouaffe among seven European champs on France roster

PARIS (FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017) - France bring back a major core of the group that won the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 with seven continental champions on their FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 roster.

Herve Coudray's captain will be Bathiste Tchouaffe, who is one of five players on the team who are coming back together after doing the European U16-U18 double - with the 1998 generation also winning the FIBA U16 European Championship 2014.

The other four players are Digue Diawara, Adam Mokoka, Abdoulaye N'Doye and Jules Rambaut.

Killian Tillie was the MVP of the FIBA U16 European Championship 2014 but was unavailable for the U18 tournament last year.

The competition was postponed to December and Tillie was in the United States playing college basketball for Gonzaga.

The other four players are all making their France national team debuts. Mel Esso Essis was in the running for the U18 team last year but did not play in Samsun.

The U19 team also include three veterans; as Enzo Goudou-Sinha plays with Bastien Vautier at Sluc Nancy; Pierre Hannequin is Mokoka's teammate at BCM Gravelines Dunkerque and Arson Mendy is Tchouaffe's teammate with Nanterre 92.

Missing from the France roster are the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 MVP Frank Ntilikina, who was selected in the NBA Draft; and fellow All-Star Five selection Sekou Doumbouya.

France, who are making their first appearance at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup since 2009, will take on Argentina, Korea and New Zealand in Group A.

FIBA