COLORADO SPRINGS (FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2018) – USA Basketball revealed today the USA’s 12-player list for the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in St Catharines, Canada.

“It was tough getting it to 12,” said Bill Self, Head Coach of the USA U18 National Team. “It was tough getting it from 33 to 18, but even with the 18 we’ve had a couple of extra days with and know how committed they all are to try to make the team, knowing that different guys look better on different days and in different situations, it was tough getting to 12 because there are a lot of interchangeable parts.

"I’m excited about working with this group. One of the things I think they bring to the table is versatility. They’re very interchangeable. I can see us playing four little guards around a big. I could see us playing two bigs, two little guards and a three. I think this team has some different things they’ll be able to do, depending on how we stack up against our opponents. The other thing, and this goes for all 18 guys, the appearance is that they really like each other. The appearance is that they’ll be a fun group to spend two weeks with, which obviously is very important to teams being successful, of guys understanding that some days it might not be their day, it might be somebody else’s day,” added Self.

USA will kick-off the U18 Americas Championship against the Dominican Republic. The team coached by Bill Self will then face Panama and Puerto Rico to close-out the Group Phase of the continental championship.

The top four teams from the FIBA U18 Americas Championship will qualify to the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019.

FIBA