REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - Well, well, well, we now know the road to the championship as the draw for the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship has been made. And everything is lined up for a possible great final. But let's get to that in a few minutes.

First off, in case you haven't seen the draw for the 27 June-5 July spectacle, you can find them here.

What does all that mean?

Well, all 16 teams advance to the Round of 16 with Groups A and B crossing over and Groups C and D doing the same. Group A winners will then take on the fourth-placed team from Group B, 2nd place in Group A faces the third team in Group B and so forth.

So, what can we say now?

First off, mark down June 28 as must-see TV - or let's call it YouTube watching. There will be plenty of future superstars on the court as Croatia take on the 2013 champions from the United States - most likely to determine which team will top Group A.

It's hard not to drool thinking about that match-up already more than three months ahead of time.

Think about the group of stars the USA could line up - the Duke University duo of Tyus Jones and Justice Winslow as well as Stanley Johnson, Jalen Brunson, Luke Kennard, Alonzo Trier, Chase Jeter, Jaylen Brown and others from last summer's U18 team. Also in the mix would be members of the Americans' title winning team at the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship including tournament MVP Malik Newman, Diamond Stone, Ivan Rabb and Caleb Swanigan.

And then there is the uber-talented group of Croatians including Dragan Bender, Lovro Mazalin, Marko Arapovic, Ante Zicic, Nik Slavica, Luka Bozic, Ivica Zubac as well as Antonio Vrankovic, who is playing high school in the United States.

Like I said, must-see YouTube watching.

The format of the tournament is done in such a way that if the USA and Croatia finish in the first two spots in Group A, they cannot meet in the knockout stages until the Final. The same goes of course for all four groups.

While you're in your calendar, June 30 won't be too bad either when you consider that tournament hosts Greece will face Serbia with the top spot in Group D likely at stake.

If the USA were to win Group A, however, second place in Group D might not end up being too bad. The winners of Group D could meet the USA in the Semi-Finals while the second place finisher in Group D could not meet the Group A winner until the Final on 5 July in Crete.

Another team many are considering as a possible finalist is Turkey. The 2014 U18 European champions are returning to the U19 Worlds for the first time since 2007 and have been drawn into an interesting Group B with Argentina, Spain, China.

Group C promises to be entertaining as well as a loaded Canadian team faces off with a strong Italy team - looking to make a mark on the U19 Worlds after missing the party for the last 20 years. Group B also has Australia, who are still in doubt about which players will come though it seems unlikely that Ben Simmons, Jonah Bolden and Thon Maker will be on board for the Australians.

There are no first-timers in the 16-team field though Dominican Republic's only previous appearance came in 1983 - at least 13 years before any of the country's players were even born. And the FIBA Americas team's reward for making the tournament is Group D with powers Greece and Serbia as well as Asian stronghold Korea.

So, now we all know who will play who and who might play who when. Now all we have to do is wait three months for the fun to start.

David Hein

FIBA

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