McDermott invited to U19 Team Camp

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Creighton University forward Doug McDermott has accepted an invitation from the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee to attend the 2011 USA Basketball Men's U19 World Championship Team training camp, USA Basketball today announced. The training camp, which will be held June 17-24 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., will be used to select the 12-member team that will represent the USA at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship.

The USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee, chaired by NCAA representative Jim Boeheim (head coach, Syracuse University), is expected to announce on June 19 finalists for the 12-member USA U19 World Championship Team roster. Training camp for the selected finalists will begin in the afternoon on June 19, with the official 12-member USA roster being announced prior to the teams' departure for Europe on June 24. The 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men is being held June 30-July 10 in Valmiera, Liepaja and Riga Latvia.

"This is a tremendous honor for Doug," said Greg McDermott, his father and Creighton men's basketball coach. "The chance to compete alongside some of the best players in America in his age group, as well as the potential to represent Team USA on the world stage, is a huge opportunity that he is very much looking forward to."

Doug McDermott was named MVC Freshman of the Year and MVC Newcomer of the Year after an outstanding debut season in 2010-11 for Creighton. He became the first freshman since 1952 to be named first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference, led Creighton in scoring (14.9) and rebounding (7.2), and tied for the team lead with 47 three-pointers made. His nine double-doubles led the MVC and he joined Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony as the only freshmen nationally since 2003 with at least 525 points, 270 rebounds and 40 three-pointers in a season.

"Between the coaching staff and the 17 players that will be participating in the USA U19 training camp, we believe we have assembled another outstanding group who should give us an excellent opportunity to defend our U19 World Championship gold medal," said Boeheim. "The USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee again did an excellent job of identifying a very talented group of young players who will compete during the first three days of the training camp for a roster position on the USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team."

Accepting invitations to attend the 2011 USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team training camp were: Keith Appling (Michigan State/Detroit, Mich.); Melsahn Basabe (Iowa/Glen Cove, N.Y.); Brad Beal (Chaminade College Prep/St. Louis, Mo.); James Bell (Villanova/Orlando, Fla.); Anthony Brown (Stanford/Huntington Beach, Calif.); Trevor Cooney (Sanford School/Wilmington, Del.); Allen Crabbe (California/Los Angeles, Calif.); Tim Hardaway, Jr. (Michigan/Miami, Fla.); Joe Jackson (Memphis/Memphis, Tenn.); Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut/Norcross, Ga.); Meyers Leonard (Illinois/Robinson, Ill.); Doug McDermott (Creighton/ Ames, Iowa); Travis McKie (Wake Forest/Richmond, Va.); Tony Mitchell (North Texas/Dallas, Texas); Richard Solomon (California/Los Angeles, Calif.); Josiah Turner (Quality Education Academy/ Sacramento, Calif.); and Patric Young (Florida/Jacksonville, Fla.).

Seven of the players possess prior USA Basketball experience including one member of the 2010 USA U17 World Championship gold medalist team and three players from the 2010 USA U18 National Team that captured gold at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

Beal returns as the lone member of the USA U17 Team that won last summer's FIBA U17 World Championship, and he was also a member of the 2009 USA U16 team that won gold, as well as the 2011 USA Junior Select Team that captured a win in the Nike Hoop Summit on April 9.

Cooney, Mitchell and Young were part of USA Basketball's 2010 U18 team, while Young was selected for the USA Junior Select Team that won the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit.

Other players possessing USA Basketball trials experience include Appling, Bell and Jackson.

Included on the roster are 14 student-athletes who attended a NCAA Division I school and three who finished their high school career this year. The University of California, with Crabbe and Solomon, and University of Florida, with Young and incoming freshman Beal, are the only colleges sending multiple representatives.

Lamb helped lead the University of Connecticut to the 2011 NCAA title and along the way was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.2 points and 4.8 rebounds.

Eight athletes listed among their NCAA conference all-freshman squads following the 2010-11 season, including two who were named their conference's freshman of the year. Crabbe was named the Pac-10 Conference Freshman of the Year, and McDermott was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Additionally, Jackson collected MVP honors for the Conference USA Tournament, Lamb was named to the Big East Conference All-Tournament Team, and McDermott was also named All-Missouri Valley Conference first team.

Named to their respective conference all-freshman teams were: Basabe (Big Ten), Brown (Pac-10), Crabbe (Pac-10), Hardaway (Big Ten), Lamb (Big East), McDermott (Missouri Valley), McKie (Atlantic Coast) and Young (Southeastern).

Additionally, McDermott was named to the USBWA Freshman All-America second team, while Hardaway, McDermott, McKie and Young were each named to the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Freshman All-American Team.

Of the three incoming freshmen attending the training, Beal ranks No. 4 in the ESPNU Class of 2011 rankings, while Turner is No. 14 and Cooney is No. 64.

Recently named George Mason University head coach Paul Hewitt is head coach of the USA U19 World Championship Team, and Randy Bennett of St. Mary's College and Cliff Warren of Jacksonville University are assistant coaches.

In addition to Boeheim, the 2009-12 USA Basketball Men's Junior National Committee includes NCAA appointees Lorenzo Romar (head coach, University of Washington), Bruce Weber (head coach, University of Illinois) and Roy Williams (head coach, University of North Carolina); and athlete representative Jay Williams, a member of the 2002 USA World Championship Team.

FIBA U19 World Championship

Led by then University of Oklahoma head coach Jeff Capel, the 2010 USA U18 National Team secured the USA's berth to the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship with a 5-0 and gold medal finish in its zone qualifier, the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, held June 26-30 in San Antonio, Texas.

Sixteen nations will battle for the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men title June 30-July 10 in Latvia. The United States has been placed in Group D, along with China, Egypt and Serbia. The 12 remaining 19-and-under national teams were distributed as such: Group A includes Brazil, Poland, Russia and Tunisia; Group B consists of Argentina, Australia, Latvia and Taiwan; and Group C is comprised of Canada, Croatia, Lithuania and South Korea.

The U.S. squad's preliminary round slate opens with a June 30 contest against Egypt, followed by Serbia on July 1, and the USA squad will conclude preliminary play July 2 versus China. The top three teams from each preliminary group will qualify for the preliminary second round, while the fourth place teams will qualify for the classification round to determine 13th to 16th places.

The twelve teams qualified for the second round, which will be played July 4-6, will be divided into groups E and F, with six teams in each group. The top three preliminary round teams from groups A and B will advance to Group E, and the top three from C and D will advance to Group F. Each team will play the three new teams in its new group, with the final scores of all games played in the preliminary round carrying over to determine the second round standings.

Teams finishing in first through fourth places in the two second round groups will qualify for the quarterfinals, with the opportunity to advance to the semifinals and finals. Teams finishing in fifth and sixth places in Groups E and F will play for ninth through 12th places. The quarterfinals will be held on July 8, semifinals are slated for July 9 and the gold and bronze medal games, as well as the 5th/6th place and 7th/8th place games will be contested on July 10.

Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was held every four years from 1979 - 2007. Starting in 2009 FIBA changed its calendar and now holds age-based world championships every other year. USA men's teams are 62-11 in the U19/Junior World Championships, and have won four gold and three silver medals, most recently earning the gold medal for the first time since 1991 with a 9-0 record in 2009.

USA U19 World Championship for Men Players of note include: Stacey Augmon (1987), Vin Baker (1991), Michael Beasley (2007), Dee Brown (2003), Vince Carter (1995), Nick Collison (1999), Seth Curry (2009), Stephen Curry (2007), Paul Davis (2003), Eric Floyd (1979), Jonny Flynn (2007), Ashton Gibbs (2009), Gordon Hayward (2009), Larry Johnson (1987), Stephon Marbury (1995), Gary Payton (1987), Sam Perkins (1979), Wesley Person (1991), Kevin Pittsnogle (2003), J.J. Redick (2003), Bobby Simmons (1999), Scott Skiles (1983), Tyshawn Taylor (2009), Howard Thompkins (2009), Deron Williams (2003) and James Worthy (1979).

2011 USA Men's U19 World Championship Team Training Roster

NAME POS HGT WGT DOB YOG SCHOOL HOMETOWN

Keith Appling G 6-1 180 02/13/92 2014 Michigan State Detroit, MI

Melsahn Basabe F/C 6-7 225 05/29/92 2014 Iowa Glen Cove, NY

Brad Beal G 6-4 195 06/28/93 2011 Chaminade College Prep/*Florida Sr. Louis, MO

James Bell G 6-5 225 01/07/92 2014 Villanova Orlando, FL

Anthony Brown G 6-6 200 10/10/92 2014 Stanford Huntington Beach, FL

Trevor Cooney G 6-3 180 08/01/92 2011 Sanford School/*Syracuse Wilmington, DE

Allen Crabbe G 6-6 205 04/04/92 2014 California Los Angeles, CA

Tim Hardaway, Jr. G 6-5 185 03/16/92 2014 Michigan Miami, FL

Joe Jackson G 6-0 175 02/08/92 2014 Memphis Memphis, TN

Jeremy Lamb G 6-5 185 05/30/92 2014 Connecticut Norcross, GA

Meyers Leonard C 7-0 240 02/27/92 2014 Illinois Robinson, IL

Doug McDermott F 6-7 210 01/03/92 2014 Creighton Ames, IA

Travis McKie F 6-7 205 10/23/92 2014 Wake Forest Richmond, VA

Tony Mitchell F/C 6-9 220 04/07/92 2014 North Texas Dallas, TX

Richard Solomon F/C 6-10 220 06/18/92 2014 California Los Angeles, CAI

Josiah Turner G 6-3 175 07/05/92 2011 Quality Education Academy/*Arizona Sacramento, CA

Patric Young F/C 6-9 245 02/01/92 2014 Florida Jacksonville, FL

Head Coach: Paul Hewitt, George Mason University

Assistant Coach: Randy Bennett, St. Mary's College

Assistant Coach: Cliff Warren, Jacksonville University

Athletic Trainer: Tim Hansen, United States Military Academy Prep School (Fort Monmouth, N.J.)