ARG - Deck among 16-man preliminary squad for U19

BUENOS AIRES (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Star forward Gabriel Deck is one of eight players from Argentina's 2012 U18 team to be named to the South American giants' 16-man preliminary squad for the 2013 edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship.

Deck was Argentina's leading scorer (15.8 points per game) and second best rebounder (4.8 rebounds) at last summer's FIBA Americas U18 Championship as they came in fourth.

The Avellaneda native was also a member of the All-Tournament Team at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship with averages of 21.5 points and 7.2 rebounds as he led the national side to a sixth-place finish.

Deck also put his name on the radar of international basketball fans last month when he played at the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit, though he went scoreless in 3:20 minutes of action in Portland, Oregon.

The other players from Argentina's 2012 U18 team with a shot at playing in the Czech capital Prague - the host city for the FIBA U19 World Championship taking place from 27 June-7 July - are Pedro Barral, Matias Bernardini, Lucas Gonzalez, Rodrigo Haag, Ignacio Moreno, Gonzalo Torres and Gaston Whelan.

Like Deck, Haag also played at last year's U17 World Championship in Kaunas, Lithuania. Other players from that team named to the U19 preliminary squad are Augustin Caffaro, Juan Vaulet and Luca Vildoza.

The remaining players are Franco Barroso, Federico Dayer, Javier Saiz, Alejandro Zurbriggen and Nicolas Zurschmitten.

Argentina have been drawn into Group B with tournament hosts Czech Republic, Iran and Lithuania.

The Argentina group will meet from 18-24 May at the CeNARD where they will work under the direction of Sebastian Gonzalez and Marcelo Germanetto.

The U19 national team head coach is Nicolas Casalanguida, who guided Regatas Corrientes to the title in the Liga Nacional last Wednesday.

After the training camp, Casalanguida will make three cuts and take a 13-man team to Brazil for a series of test games to be played between May 24-31.

It will be the second training camp for the group, which has been cut down from 19 players. The team played two friendlies against a Regatas de Corrientes side during that camp, losing 71-62 and 76-70.

FIBA