2011-12 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Announced

Colorado Springs, Colo. • March 24, 2011

Twenty-four of the nation’s top 16-and-under basketball standouts, including 18 who participated in the Oct. 2010 USA Developmental National Team mini-camp, have been named to the 2011-12 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team, USA Basketball today announced. The 2011 USA U16 National Team and 2012 USA U17 World Championship Team, should the U.S. qualify for the U17 Worlds, will be comprised of USA Developmental National Team members. Invitations were issued by the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Committee.

Two-time USA Basketball Developmental Coach of the Year Don Showalter (Mid-Prairie High School, Iowa) returns for a second stint as the USA Developmental National Team head coach after guiding the USA to perfect records and gold medals at the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship and 2009 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. Showalter will be assisted over the next two years by Rich Gray (St. Louis Eagles AAU, Mo.) and Mike Jones (DeMatha High School, Md.).

“We’re pretty familiar with 18 of the kids and the majority of them have had really good high school years with their varsity teams,” said Showalter. “The difference from last fall to this year will be significant. We’ll be able to see a big difference in their mental and physical abilities, their mental toughness, from last fall. So, I’m really looking forward to those 18 coming in and seeing how much they’ve improved.

“Then we’ll have six more kids who weren’t with us last fall, but who have had really good years. You try and get the best group you can and these guys really stepped up to the plate during their high school seasons. I think that’s why the committee chose them to come in for the training camp.

“I’m looking forward to this. We’ve got kids who can play multiple positions. We have some good shot blockers there who we can take a hard look at. They’re all good athletes, they run the court really well. We like to put points on the board and I think this group can do that.”

The 18 athletes named to the 2011-12 USA Developmental National Team who participated in the 2010 USA mini-camp include: Shaqquan Aaron (Mater Dei H.S. / Apple Valley, Calif.); Larry Austin (Lamphier H.S. / Springfield, Ill.); Anton Beard (Parkview Magnet School / Little Rock, Ark.); James Blackmon, Jr. (Bishop Leuers H.S. / Fort Wayne, Ind.); Dominique Collier (Denver East H.S. / Denver, Colo.); Stephen Domingo (St. Ignatius Prep / San Francisco, Calif.); Conner Frankamp (Wichita North H.S. / Wichita, Kan.); Aaron Gordon (Arch Bishop Mitty H.S. / San Jose, Calif.); Dakari Johnson (St. Patrick H.S., N.J. / Brooklyn, N.Y.); Stanley Johnson (Mater Dei H.S. / Fullerton, Calif.); Tyus Jones (Apple Valley H.S. / Apple Valley, Minn.); Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Jabari Parker (Simeon H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Malik Price-Martin (Monsignor Edward Pace H.S. / Miami, Fla.); Theo Pinson (Oakridge Military Academy / Greensboro, N.C.); Jordan Swopshire (Fort Zumwalt South H.S. / Ofallon, Mo.); Charles Tucker (Lansing Eastern H.S. / Lansing, Mich.); and Johnathan Williams (Southwind H.S. / Memphis, Tenn.).

Also named to the 2011-12 USA squad were: Beejay Anya (DeMatha Catholic H.S. / Hyattsville, Md.); Trey Lyles (Arsenal Technical H.S. / Camby, Ind.); Kendrick Nunn (Simeon H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Jimmie Taylor (Greensboro H.S. / Greensboro, Ala.); Paul White (Whitney Young H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); and Isaiah Whitehead (Lincoln H.S. / Brooklyn, N.Y.).

The official 12-member 2011 USA Men’s U16 National Team will be selected during training camp for the 2011-12 USA Developmental National Team, which will take place June 10-18 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Players eligible for this competition must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1995.

The 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship will be held June 21-25 in León, Mexico. Teams qualified for the eight-nation tournament include: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States, Venezuela and two still to be determined. The top three finishing teams will qualify for the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship, scheduled for June 29 – July 12 in Lithuania.

The 24 players hail from 15 different states, with Illinois represented by a high of five players, followed by California with four and Indiana with two athletes. Alabama Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina and Tennessee are each represented by one player; while one player hails from New York, but competes in New Jersey.

Six players have helped their teams to national rankings by USA Today (all rankings and records as of 3/22/11). Dakari Johnson has helped St. Patrick to a 26-1 slate and a No. 2 national ranking; Simeon, which features Nunn and Parker, is currently ranked No. 9 in the country and owns a 30-2 record; Aaron and Stanley Johnson have led Mater Dei to a 31-3 record and a No. 11 national ranking; while Gordon’s Archbiship Mitty squad is No. 19 with a 31-2 record. Additionally, Whitehead and Lincoln are ranked No. 9 in the East Region with a 28-3 mark.

“The challenge will be to see how well they come together,” Showalter added. “The talent’s pretty good. I hate to say this, you hate to compare them to the last group, but we were really good the last two years. What made them so good is that they bought into team play. When you’re bringing guys like Michael Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Tony Wroten off the bench, who willingly did it for the good of the team, that’s a huge factor. It’s going to take a little work to mesh these guys into the same kind of a team atmosphere, but that’s the job of our coaching staff.”

The 2011-12 USA team member selections were made by the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Committee. Chaired in a non-voting position by Sean Ford, the USA Basketball Men’s National Team Director, the USA Men’s Developmental National Team Committee also includes AAU appointees Ron Crawford and Boo Williams, National Federation of High Schools representatives Eric Flannery and John Olive and athlete representative Kermit Holmes (1999 USA Pan American Games Team).

In the inaugural 2009 FIBA Americas U16 Championship that was held in Mendoza, Argentina, the U.S. squad was flat out impressive. Scoring an average of 113.0 points a game, the USA won its five games by an average of 33.8 points a game to claim the competition’s first gold medal and qualify the U.S. for the 2011 FIBA U17 World Championship. The 2011 USA U17 squad also dominated opponents, winning its eight games by an average of 34.9 points a game, en route to gold. Brad Beal, Quinn Cook, James McAdoo and Adonis Thomas were members of the ‘09 U16 squad, claimed their second gold medal for the U.S. at the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship, and are scheduled to compete for their third USA Basketball squad at the 2011 Nike Hoop Summit.

USA Basketball
Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body (NGB) for men’s and women’s basketball in the United States. As the recognized NGB for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA teams that compete in FIBA sponsored international basketball competitions, as well as for some national competitions.

Since 2008, USA Basketball men’s and women’s teams have compiled a sterling 96-2 win-loss record in FIBA or FIBA Americas competitions. USA teams are the current men’s and women’s champions in the Olympics, FIBA World Championships; U19 and U17 FIBA World Championships; and U18 and U16 FIBA Americas championships. USA Basketball currently ranks No. 1 in all five of FIBA’s world ranking categories, including combined, men’s, women’s, boys and girls.

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