Jerami Grant has earned a spot on the 12-man, USA Basketball U19 squad.
Grant Makes U19 USA Squad
6/18/2013 9:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Jerami Grant (Syracuse/Bowie, Md.), who recently completed his freshman season at Syracuse, has earned a roster spot on he 12-man USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team. The squad was announced Monday following the evening training session.
Grant was a key reserve on an SU squad that advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2012-13. He played in all 40 games and averaged 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds.
The U19 squad features eight players with prior USA Basketball experience including five players from last summer's USA U18 Championship Team that captured gold. The 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship will be held June 24-July 6 in Prague, Czech Republic. USA U19 Team members must be 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1994) and a U.S. citizen to be eligible for this team.
Selected for the USA U19 World Championship Team were Michael Frazier (Florida/Tampa, Fla.); Aaron Gordon (Archbishop Mitty H.S./San Jose, Calif.); Montrezl Harrell (Louisville/Tarboro, N.C.); Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young H.S./Chicago, Ill.); Elfrid Payton (Louisiana at Lafayette/Gretna, La.); Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State/Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes (Tennessee/Memphis, Tenn.); Rasheed Sulaimon (Duke/Houston, Texas); Mike Tobey (Virginia/Monroe, N.Y.); Nigel Williams-Goss (Findlay Prep/Happy Valley, Ore.); and Justise Winslow (St. Johns H.S./Houston, Texas).
"Getting down to 12 is the real hard part because in a lot of respects we easy could have kept 14-15," said USA head coach Billy Donovan, who led the 2012 USA U18 Team to a 5-0 record, a FIBA Americas U18 gold-medal finish and a qualifying berth for the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.
"There were some tough decisions, difficult decisions, but I think we feel overall that we have selected an athletic and versatile team. Our style of play will be an aggressive, up-tempo, running, pressing style. From an execution standpoint we've got to get better there, a lot of the other teams over there have been together for quite some time and that's probably a strength of their teams, so we felt that we have to rely on some athleticism," Donovan continued.
"These kids, being here since Friday, obviously there's been a physical toll on them, but I don't think you can underestimate the mental toll of these kids trying so hard to make the team. Here it is today and they have gone through Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, four pretty difficult days against really difficult competition, and the uncertainty of 'am I playing well enough'; 'am I going to make the team or not make the team'; that stress, that pressure, I think that adds to their fatigue. So I think getting that behind us now and going forward we can get our guys focused on being the best team. I think the focus up to this point of time by them has been 'make the team', 'make the team', 'make the team', and we've got to now move it towards trying to win."
Assisting Donovan with the 2013 USA U19 World Championship Team are experienced and successful college coaches Tony Bennett (Virginia) and Shaka Smart (Virginia Commonwealth) as assistant coaches.
Training for the 12 team members will continue at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., with two sessions slated for June 17 and June 18 (9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. MDT and 4:30-7:00 p.m. MDT) and once on June 19 (9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.). Relocating its training to Washington, D.C., the squad will train at the Washington Wizards' practice facility June 20-22, then depart June 22 for Prague, Czech Republic, and the June 27-July 7 FIBA U19 World Championship.
Eight team members possess prior USA Basketball experience. Five players -- Grant, Harrell, Smart, Stokes and Sulaimon -- were all part of the 2012 USA U18 National Team that won gold at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship and qualified the United States for the FIBA U19 World Championship. Okafor and Winslow were members of the 2012 USA U17 World Championship Team that collected gold, and Okafor was selected the tournament MVP and was joined on the FIBA?U17 World Championship All-Tournament Team by Winslow. Gordon and Okafor were members of the 2011 USA U16 FIBA Americas gold-medalist team; Gordon was also a member of the 2013 USA Junior National Select Team that participated in the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit, and Sulaimon played for the USA in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit. Gordon, Okafor and Winslow were also members of USA Basketball's 2011-12 Developmental National Team.
The U.S. roster features two rising college juniors, six rising sophomores, two graduating high school seniors and two rising high school seniors.
The USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee is responsible for player selections for the USA U19 World Championship Team. In addition to chair and NCAA representative Jim Boeheim, (head coach, Syracuse), the committee features four additional voting members: NCAA appointees Bob McKillop (head coach, Davidson), Matt Painter (head coach, Purdue) and Lorenzo Romar (head coach, Washington), as well as athlete representative Curtis Sumpter, a 2011 USA Pan American Games and 2004 USA U20 National Team member.
Grant was a key reserve on an SU squad that advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2012-13. He played in all 40 games and averaged 3.9 points and 3.0 rebounds.
The U19 squad features eight players with prior USA Basketball experience including five players from last summer's USA U18 Championship Team that captured gold. The 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship will be held June 24-July 6 in Prague, Czech Republic. USA U19 Team members must be 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1994) and a U.S. citizen to be eligible for this team.
Selected for the USA U19 World Championship Team were Michael Frazier (Florida/Tampa, Fla.); Aaron Gordon (Archbishop Mitty H.S./San Jose, Calif.); Montrezl Harrell (Louisville/Tarboro, N.C.); Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young H.S./Chicago, Ill.); Elfrid Payton (Louisiana at Lafayette/Gretna, La.); Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State/Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes (Tennessee/Memphis, Tenn.); Rasheed Sulaimon (Duke/Houston, Texas); Mike Tobey (Virginia/Monroe, N.Y.); Nigel Williams-Goss (Findlay Prep/Happy Valley, Ore.); and Justise Winslow (St. Johns H.S./Houston, Texas).
"Getting down to 12 is the real hard part because in a lot of respects we easy could have kept 14-15," said USA head coach Billy Donovan, who led the 2012 USA U18 Team to a 5-0 record, a FIBA Americas U18 gold-medal finish and a qualifying berth for the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.
"There were some tough decisions, difficult decisions, but I think we feel overall that we have selected an athletic and versatile team. Our style of play will be an aggressive, up-tempo, running, pressing style. From an execution standpoint we've got to get better there, a lot of the other teams over there have been together for quite some time and that's probably a strength of their teams, so we felt that we have to rely on some athleticism," Donovan continued.
"These kids, being here since Friday, obviously there's been a physical toll on them, but I don't think you can underestimate the mental toll of these kids trying so hard to make the team. Here it is today and they have gone through Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, four pretty difficult days against really difficult competition, and the uncertainty of 'am I playing well enough'; 'am I going to make the team or not make the team'; that stress, that pressure, I think that adds to their fatigue. So I think getting that behind us now and going forward we can get our guys focused on being the best team. I think the focus up to this point of time by them has been 'make the team', 'make the team', 'make the team', and we've got to now move it towards trying to win."
Assisting Donovan with the 2013 USA U19 World Championship Team are experienced and successful college coaches Tony Bennett (Virginia) and Shaka Smart (Virginia Commonwealth) as assistant coaches.
Training for the 12 team members will continue at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., with two sessions slated for June 17 and June 18 (9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. MDT and 4:30-7:00 p.m. MDT) and once on June 19 (9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.). Relocating its training to Washington, D.C., the squad will train at the Washington Wizards' practice facility June 20-22, then depart June 22 for Prague, Czech Republic, and the June 27-July 7 FIBA U19 World Championship.
Eight team members possess prior USA Basketball experience. Five players -- Grant, Harrell, Smart, Stokes and Sulaimon -- were all part of the 2012 USA U18 National Team that won gold at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship and qualified the United States for the FIBA U19 World Championship. Okafor and Winslow were members of the 2012 USA U17 World Championship Team that collected gold, and Okafor was selected the tournament MVP and was joined on the FIBA?U17 World Championship All-Tournament Team by Winslow. Gordon and Okafor were members of the 2011 USA U16 FIBA Americas gold-medalist team; Gordon was also a member of the 2013 USA Junior National Select Team that participated in the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit, and Sulaimon played for the USA in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit. Gordon, Okafor and Winslow were also members of USA Basketball's 2011-12 Developmental National Team.
The U.S. roster features two rising college juniors, six rising sophomores, two graduating high school seniors and two rising high school seniors.
The USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee is responsible for player selections for the USA U19 World Championship Team. In addition to chair and NCAA representative Jim Boeheim, (head coach, Syracuse), the committee features four additional voting members: NCAA appointees Bob McKillop (head coach, Davidson), Matt Painter (head coach, Purdue) and Lorenzo Romar (head coach, Washington), as well as athlete representative Curtis Sumpter, a 2011 USA Pan American Games and 2004 USA U20 National Team member.
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