USA Men's U18 Players Making An Impact In College

Colorado Springs, Colorado • February 11, 2013

• 2012 USA U18 Recap

You can't help but be impressed with how well the members of the 2012 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team are doing as college freshmen.

Seven of the nine freshmen from the 12-member USA U18 men’s team are playing for top 25 ranked teams (Jarnell Stokes is a sophomore at Tennessee, while Nathaniel Britt, II and Julius Randle are high school seniors). Guard Marcus Smart, who averaged 7.4 points and a team leading 4.0 assists a game for the USA U18 squad, is currently the highest scoring player in college from the U.S. U18 team, averaging 14.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists a game for #17 Oklahoma State. Rasheed Sulaimon ranks as #2 Duke's fourth leading scorer averaging 11.8 ppg., while also contributing 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists a game.

Collegiate rookies also making solid contributions are Sam Dekker (#20 Wisconsin - 8.8 ppg., 3.5 rpg.); Shaq Goodwin (#22 Memphis - 8.6 ppg., 4.9 rpg.); Jerami Grant (#6 Syracuse - 5.4 ppg., 3.0 rpg.); Montrezl Harrell (#12 Louisville - 6.0 ppg., 3.9 rpg.); Jake Layman (Maryland - 5.4 ppg., 2.9 rpg.); Rodney Purvis (North Carolina State - 9.3 ppg., 2.6 rpg.); James Robinson (#16 Pittsburgh - 6.1 ppg., 3.6 apg.);

Stokes, a 6-8, 270 pound, second-year forward for Tennessee, is posting impressive stats as well, scoring a team second best 12.4 ppg., while adding a team high 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots a game.

The USA U18 coaching staff is matching the players' success. U18 head coach Billy Donovan has Florida standing 19-3 and ranked #7. Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, who was one of Donovan's U18 assistant coaches, has directed the Zags to a 23-2 record and #5 ranking, while Virginia Commonwealth mentor Shaka Smart, also an assistant for the USA U18 team, has his squad out to a 19-5 start.

The USA team captured gold at the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship that was held June 16-20 in Sao Sebastiáo do Paraiso, Brazil. The Americans featured a well balanced scoring attack that averaged 97.2 points and won its five contests by an average of 38.6 points a game. By winning gold, the squad also qualified the United States for the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Below is a listing of freshman season statistics (as of 2/11/13) for the 2012 USA Men's U18 Team.