Iceland hand 41 players the chance to help repeat FIBA EuroBasket trip

REYKJAVIK (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) - Iceland head coach Craig Pedersen has announced a 41-strong preliminary squad, one of the most extensive seen by any national team in this summer campaign, ahead of the FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers 2017 which tip off on 31 August.

Iceland 41-man preliminary squad for FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers
Kristofer Acox	Eysteinn Aevarsson	Vidar Agustsson	Hlynur Elias Baeringsson
Maciej Baginskij	Emil Barja	Petur Runar Birgisson	Brynjar Bjornsson
Austin Magnus Bracey	Pavel Ermolinskij	Elvar Mar Fridriksson	Jon Axel Gudmundsson
Logi Gunnarsson	Ari Gylfason	Breki Gylfason	Bjorgvin Ríkhardur Hafthorsson
Martin Hermannsson	Darri Hilmarsson	Tomas Hilmarsson	Tryggvi Hlinason
Snorri Hrafnkelsson	Dagur Kar Jonsson	Kari Jonsson	Axel Karason
Bjorn Kristjansson	Finnur Atli Magnusson	Ragnar Agust Nathanaelsson	Olafur Olafsson
Gunnar Olason	Haukur Helgi Palsson	Kristinn Palsson	Jakob Orn Sigurdarson
Matthias Orri Sigurdarson	Hjalmar Stefansson	Jon Arnor Stefansson	Aegir Steinarsson
Sigurdur Gunnar Thorsteinsson	Tomas Tomasson Holton	Stefan Karel Torfason	Valur Orri Valsson
Hordur Axel Vilhjalmsson

The list includes 11 of the 12 players who proudly represented Iceland at its maiden FIBA EuroBasket Final Round appearance in September 2015 and caused a stir in Berlin with their plucky displays and the dedication of their travelling fans.

Helgi Magnusson, who turns 34 in August, is the only member of the EuroBasket 2015 squad that will not take part in the campaign for a second consecutive trip to the showcase tournament. The list is characterised nonetheless by a wide age span as it ranges from Logi Gunnarsson, who will turn 35 during the Qualifiers, to 18-year-old Kristinn Palsson.

Young shooting guard Palsson is one of several players on the preliminary squad who are currently competing at the FIBA U20 European Championship Division B in Greece and will join the senior national team's preparations next week, after the completion of that tournament.

The first stage of Iceland's training camp gets under way on Wednesday 20 July with the participation of 25 players. The 11 players who were on the FIBA EuroBasket 2015 squad will join at a latter stage, just like the players who come from the U20 team.

"I, as well as the players, fans and federation, am looking forward to the qualification process this summer," said Pedersen. "It will be a very challenging group but hopefully we can continue our strong play from last summer and manage to qualify for FIBA EuroBasket 2017."

After the initial stages of training camp are completed, Iceland will travel to Austria to take part in a warm-up tournament from 11 to 14 August where they will go up against the hosts, Poland and Slovenia.

Iceland were drawn in Group A of the Qualifiers, together with Belgium, Cyprus and Switzerland. The Nordic team's opener is at home against the Swiss, who have also taken part in the Final Round of a EuroBasket tournament only once in their history.

FIBA