2012 USA Hoop Summit Team Members Playing Big In College

Colorado Springs, Colorado • February 13, 2013

• 2012 Nike Hoop Summit Recap

Not to be overshadowed by the successes the players from the 2012 USA U18 National Team are enjoying in college, the 10 players from the 2012 USA Basketball Junior National Select Team, which competed in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit, have likewise quickly made their presence felt across the college hoops landscape.

Seven of the 10 freshmen from the 10-member USA squad that played in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit are playing for top 25 ranked college programs.

Three players - Kyle Anderson, Shabazz Muhammad and Tony Parker are freshmen at Pac-10 contender UCLA, and two USA team members - Archie Goodwin and Nerlens Noel - are on the court for the nationally ranked Kentucky Wildcats. But they aren't the only USA team members who have made an impact for national powers. Mitch McGary has aided #4 Michigan to its fabulous start, Gary Harris is displaying his considerable talents at #8 Michigan State, and Kaleb Tarczewski is contributing big time for #9 Arizona. Additionally, Rasheed Sulaimon and James Robinson, who were also teammates on the USA U18 National Team, and are now playing for #2 Duke and #16 Pittsburgh, respectively.

Muhammad dumped a Nike Hoop Summit record 35 points on the World Select Team and has continued his high octane scoring while playing for the legendary Bruins. Averaging a UCLA leading 18.5 points game, Muhammad is currently the leading freshman scorer for NCAA Division I and ranks 37th overall.

Muhammad is by no means the only capable scorer who played in last April's Nike Hoop Summit. Goodwin currently leads his Kentucky squad in scoring with a 13.9 points a game average, Harris is Michigan State's second leading scorer averaging 12.9 points a contest, and Sulaimon ranks as Duke's fourth leading scorer averaging 11.8 ppg.

Kentucky's 6-10 center Nerlens Noel has won four consecutive SEC Rookie of the Week honors and is scoring 10.5 points a game, grabbing 9.5 rebounds per contest to rank 24th in NCAA Division I, while currently leading all NCAA Division I players for blocked shots swatting 4.4 an outing and lists tied for 40th in steals snatching 2.1 a game.

Pitt's Robinson, who ranks fifth overall and first among freshmen in NCAA DI stats for assist-turnover ratio (3.25), is averaging 6.1 ppg. and a team second best 3.6 apg., while McGary leads the Wolverines in rebounds with a hefty 6.0 average and is adding 6.3 points per contest. Tarczewski is contributing 6.0 points and a team second-best 5.5 rebounds a game to the #9 ranked Arizona Wildats.

Despite Muhammad's record-setting 35 points, the USA fell to the World Select Team 84-75 in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit that was held on April 7 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore. The Nike Hoop Summit, the country's premier annual basketball game for high-school boys, features America's top high school seniors playing against a World Team comprised of elite, international players who are 19-years-old or younger. The USA holds an 11-4 series lead in the annual Nike Hoop Summit.

Below is a listing of freshman season statistics (as of 2/13/13) for the 2012 USA Nike Hoop Summit Team.