Nation's Top Young Players To Attend 2010 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team Training Camp

• 2010 USA Men's U18 Team Training Camp Roster

March 18, 2010 - Colorado Springs, Colo.

Twenty-one of the nation's top 18-and-unders have accepted invitations from the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee to attend the 2010 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team training camp, USA Basketball today announced. The training camp, which will be held June 14-16 at the University of Texas at San Antonio, will be used to select the 12-member team that will represent the USA at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. The USA U18 National Team will remain in San Antonio June 17-25 to continue training prior to the start of the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, which will be held June 26-30 in St. Mary's University's Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio.

Accepting invitations to attend the 2010 USA Basketball U18 National Team training camp were: Tracy Abrams (Mount Carmel H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Keith Appling (Pershing H.S. / Detroit, Mich.); Vander Blue (James Madison Memorial H.S. / Madison, Wis.); Michael Chandler (Lawrence North H.S. / Indianapolis, Ind.); Trevor Cooney (Sanford H.S. / Wilmington, Del.); Abdul Gaddy (Washington / Tacoma, Wash.); Joshua Hairston (Montrose Christian School (Md.) / Fredericksburg, Va.); P.J. Hairston (Dudley Senior H.S. / Greensboro, N.C.); Tobias Harris (Half Hollow Hills West H.S. / Brookville, N.Y.); Mikael Hopkins (DeMatha Catholic H.S. / Hyattsville, Md.); Joe Jackson (White Station H.S. / Memphis, Tenn.); Terrence Jones (Jefferson H.S. / Portland, Ore.); Meyers Leonard (Robinson H.S. / Robinson, Ill.); Sheldon McClellan (Bellaire H.S. / Pearland, Texas); Quincy Miller (Quality Education Academy / Winston-Salem, N.C.); Jereme Richmond (Waukegan H.S. / Waukegan, Ill.); Austin Rivers (Winter Park H.S. / Winter Park, Fla.); Joshua Smith (Kentwood H.S. / Kent, Wash.); T.J. Taylor (Denison H.S. / Denison, Texas); Amir Williams (Detroit Country Day / Detroit, Mich.); and Patric Young (Providence School / Jacksonville, Fla.).

The FIBA Americas Men's U18 Championship will feature eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. On March 5 the draw was held to determine the first round groups, and the USA was placed into Group A, along with Argentina, Mexico and the Virgin Islands. Group B includes Brazil, Canada, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. The U.S. will open preliminary play against the Virgin Islands on June 26 at 7:00 p.m. (all times listed are local, CDT). On June 27 the USA will face Mexico at 7:00 p.m. and will close preliminary play against South American rivals Argentina on June 28 at 7:00 p.m. The semifinals are slated for June 29, and the finals will be held June 30.

Tickets are on sale for the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men. June 26-30 all-session, single day, general admission passes are just $5 each. For tickets or information about corporate ticket packages, call 210-820-2100, or go online to www.SanAntonioSports.org.

Not only will a gold medal be at stake, the top four finishing nations will qualify for the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship. Players eligible for this competition must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1992.

The USA coaching staff will be announced at a later date.

Gaddy is currently the only athlete boasting of prior USA Basketball experience. He was a member of the 2009 USA Junior National Select Team that fell to the World Team 97-89 in the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit. However, by the time they reach training camp, Harris and Jones will have competed for USA Basketball as both have been named to the 2010 USA Basketball Junior National Select Team that will go up against the World Select Team in the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit on April 10 in Portland, Ore.

Included on the roster are nine who are current high school juniors, 11 who will be matriculating into college in the fall and one, Gaddy, who is currently a freshman in college.

All 11 2010 graduates can be found listed among ESPNU's Class of 2010 Top 100 players. Harris is ranked #5, followed by Smith #11, Jones #13, Young #14, Jackson #17, Joshua Hairston #18, Richmond #23, Blue #27, Appling #31, Leonard #55 and Taylor #71.

The nine-members of the Class of 2011 are all found among the ESPNU Super 60 listing. Rivers lists #2, Miller #7, P.J. Hairston #16, Williams #17, Cooney #25, Chandler #27, Hopkins #36, Abrams #43 and McClellan #49.

The 21 athletes hail from 14 different states, with Illinois (three), Florida (two), Michigan (two), North Carolina (two), Texas (two) and Washington (two) fielding more than one representative.

As a freshman at Washington, Gaddy started 26 of 33 games and averaged 4.1 ppg. and 2.2 apg. in aiding the Huskies to a 24-9 slate, the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth.

Aside from Jones, who is still undecided about his college choice, the 10 remaining high school seniors have signed national letters of intent to attend and play for some of the nation's top powerhouses next fall. Appling signed to play at Michigan State, Blue is headed to Marquette, Joshua Hairston will compete for Duke, Harris is going to Tennessee, Jackson to Memphis, Leonard and Richmond will be teammates at Illinois, Smith has committed to UCLA, Taylor will play for Oklahoma and Young signed to play for Florida.

Six members from the Class of 2011 have made non-binding verbal commitments to colleges across the country, including Abrams to Illinois, Chandler to Louisville, Cooney with Syracuse, P.J. Hairston with North Carolina, McClellan with Texas, while Rivers gave a verbal commitment to Florida.

Five of the athletes had their schools listed nationally among the USA Today Boys' Super 25 (as of 3/18/10), including Rivers, who has helped Winter Park High School (Fla.) to a No. 13 national ranking, No. 4 in the South Region, and a 28-5 mark; DeMatha Catholic High School (Md.) and Hopkins list at No. 14 nationally and No. 5 in the East Region with a 30-3 mark; Harris' Half Hollow Hills West High School (N.Y.) squad ranks No. 18 nationally, No. 8 in the East Region, having earned a 23-1 record and a berth into the New York Class AA semifinals; Young has aided Providence School to a No. 21 national and No. 6 South Region ranking, a 31-1 slate and the Florida Class 2A title; while Appling's Pershing High School (Mich.) is ranked No. 25 nationally, No. 5 in the Midwest Region, earned a 21-2 record and a berth in the Michigan Class A, Region 7 finals.

Additionally, Smith and his Kentwood High School (Ore.) posted a 20-10 slate and are ranked No. 5 in the West Region; Jones has aided his Jefferson High School (Ore.) team to a No. 6 ranking in the West Region, a 22-2 mark and an Oregon 5A state championship; while Richmond has led his Waukegan High School (Ill.) squad to a No. 8 ranking in the Midwest Region and a 23-4 record.

Syracuse University head coach and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim, an assistant coach for the 2009-12 USA Basketball Men's National Team, chairs the USA Men's Junior National Team Committee. The Committee also includes NCAA appointees Lorenzo Romar, University of Washington head coach; Bruce Weber, University of Illinois head coach; and University of North Carolina head coach Roy Williams; while 2002 USA Basketball World Championship Team member Jay Williams serves as the athlete representative.

FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Men

Originally known as the FIBA Americas Junior World Championship Qualifier, the tournament was held every four years from 1990 through 2006. FIBA changed its calendar, however, and in 2008 FIBA Americas began conducting tournament every other year, followed in the next summer by the FIBA U19 World Championship.
USA men's teams are 33-2 in the U18 / Junior World Championship Qualifiers and have won gold in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2006, while capturing silver in 2008 and bronze in 2002. Hosts of prior U18 championships are: Formosa, Argentina in 2008; San Antonio, Texas in 2006; Isla Margarita, Venezuela in 2002; Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic in 1998; Santa Rosa, Argentina in 1994; and Montevideo, Uruguay in 1990.

A number of talented athletes have competed on the USA U18 National Teams, including Shareef Abdur-Rahim (1994); Carmelo Anthony (2002); Michael Beasley (2006); Chris Bosh (2002); Dee Brown (2002); Nick Collison (1998); Jonny Flynn (2006); Spencer Hawes (2006); Grant Hill (1990); Allan Houston (1990); Andre Iguodala (2002); Stephon Marbury (1994); Mike Miller (1998); Quentin Richardson (1998); Kyle Singler (2006); Kemba Walker (2008); and Deron Williams (2002).

Additionally, top international players in past U18 tournaments included: Leandro Barbosa (Brazil) in 1994; Jose Barea (Puerto Rico) in 2002; Gregory Echenique (Venezuela) in 2008; Juan Fernandez (Argentina) in 2008; Todd MacCulloch (Canada) in 1994; Jamal Magloire (Canada) in 1994; Peter Ramos (Puerto Rico) in 2002; Luis Scola (Argentina) in 1998; Tiago Splitter (Brazil) in 2002; and Jesse Young (Canada) in 1998.