Sent to us today by our good friends at USA Basketball:
(Check out the list below and you will see that TP(Theo Pinson) will be there for this event.)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 11, 2012) – Thirty-one of the nation’s top prep players who are 17-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1995) will begin training in defense of the FIBA U17 World Championship gold medal on June 15 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. Additionally, the 2012 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team roster is bolstered by the addition of Robert Hubbs III (Dyer County H.S. / Memphis, Tenn.) and James Young (Troy H.S. / Troy, Mich.), while former University of Arizona standout and current head coach for AAU California Supreme, Miles Simon will return to USA Basketball as a court coach for the training camp.
“It’s interesting because you always have players who tend to develop rapidly during their season and both of these guys certainly did that,” said Don Showalter, USA and Iowa City High School head coach. “With international basketball, we’re always looking for versatility. These two guys have some versatility that they can offer our team. They’re going to obviously add some depth and they’re going to make it more difficult for the committee to pick 12 players out of this group. They’re going to be able to play a number of positions, they can both shoot the ball really well and they’re both good rebounders. They’re going to fit into what we’re looking for to go up against international players.”
In addition to Hubbs and Young, members of the 2011-12 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team participating in the June 15-17 training camp are: Shaqquan Aaron (Homeschooled / Apple Valley, Calif.); Beejay Anya (DeMatha Catholic H.S. / Gaithersburg, Md.); Larry Austin (Lanphier H.S. / Springfield, Ill.); Anton Beard (Parkview Magnet H.S. / North Little Rock, Ark.); Joel Berry (Lake Highland Prep School / Apopka, Fla.); James Blackmon, Jr. (Bishop Luers H.S. / Fort Wayne, Ind.); Dom Collier (Denver East H.S. / Denver, Colo.); Stephen Domingo (Saint Ignatius Prep / San Francisco, Calif.); DeMonte Flannigan (Villa Angela-St. Joseph H.S. / Richmond Heights, Ohio); Conner Frankamp (Wichita North H.S. / Wichita, Kan.); Aaron Gordon (Archbishop Mitty H.S. / San Jose, Calif.); Justin Jackson (Homeschool Christian Youth Association / Spring, Texas); Rondaé Jefferson (Chester H.S. / Chester, Pa.); Dakari Johnson (Montverde Academy, Fla. / Brooklyn, N.Y.); Stanley Johnson (Mater Dei H.S. / Fullerton, Calif.); Tyus Jones (Apple Valley H.S. / Apple Valley, Minn.); Dwayne Morgan (Baltimore City College H.S./Baltimore, Md.); Kendrick Nunn (Simeon H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Jabari Parker (Simeon H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Theo Pinson (Wesleyan Christian Academy / Greensboro, N.C.); Malik Price-Martin (Monsignor Pace H.S. / Miami, Fla.); Jordan Swopshire (Montrose Christian Academy, Md. / O’Fallon, Mo.); Jimmie Taylor (Greensboro H.S. / Greensboro, Ala.); Charles Tucker (Lansing Eastern H.S. / Lansing, Mich.); Paul White (Whitney Young H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Isaiah Whitehead (Lincoln H.S. / Brooklyn, N.Y.); Johnathan Williams (Southwind H.S. / Memphis, Tenn.); and Justise Winslow (St. John’s School / Houston, Texas).
Trey Lyles (Arsenal Technical H.S. / Camby, Ind.), withdrew from the 2011-12 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team.
“We saw a lot of these guys play this spring, and I saw several play with their high school teams last winter,” said Showalter. “It just energized me to watch them play with their AAU teams and their high school teams. I’m ready to go and have them all here so we can try to win a gold medal.”
Inducted into the University of Arizona Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Pacific 10 Conference Hall of Fame in 2008, Simon earned 1997 NCAA Final Four MVP honors after leading the Wildcats to the NCAA crown. His professional career saw him play in the NBA; Europe, where he played in Italy, Israel and Turkey and was the 2001 Italian League MVP; and the CBA, where he earned 2002 Newcomer of the Year and MVP honors. In leading the Dakota Wizards to the 2002 CBA championship, Simon also was tabbed MVP of the 2002 CBA Playoffs. The 1998 consensus All-America first team member, as selected by the Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches and The Sporting News, Simon returned to Arizona for three seasons (2005-06 through 2007-08) as an assistant coach. Simon, who has worked as college basketball analyst for ESPN since 2008, began coaching the AAU California Supreme 17U in 2011 and is the No. 2 seed heading into this year’s Peach Jam. Simon also has served as the pre-NBA Draft trainer for several athletes, including Landry Fields in 2010 and Jimmer Fredette in 2011.
“It’s really exciting for us coaches, me, Mike Jones and Rich Gray, to have Miles come in and help us,” said Showalter. “We saw him at the Nike EYBL, and he did a great job of coaching there. He obviously brings in some experience from the college end, from the professional end, from an international standpoint, and he’s going to do a great job with the point guards we have coming in.”
Opening camp on June 15 at 5:00 p.m. (all times listed are local), the USA Developmental National Team will train twice a day, tipping at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., on June 16 and June 17. It is anticipated the final 12-member USA U17 World Championship Team will be announced after the morning session on June 17, and those 12 athletes will remain in Colorado Springs to train at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. each day through June 20. Prior to arriving in Lithuania, the USA will train and compete June 22-25, in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. During that time the U.S. will participate in the 2012 Spain U17 International Invitational, featuring U17 teams from Australia, Latvia and host Spain, June 24-25.
Opening 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship play on June 29 against Australia, the U.S. will face the Czech Republic on June 30, Egypt on July 1 and France on July 3 before closing preliminary play against China on July 4. The top four finishing teams from each group will advance to the medal round with the quarterfinals staged on July 6, the semifinals on July 7 and the finals on July 8.