Officials make right call in naming Purdue as USA representative at 2017 Summer Universiade

REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - If it works one time, why not try it again. That very well may have been the thinking of the United States International University Sports Federation (US-IUSF) as they selected the Purdue University to represent the United States in men’s basketball at the 2017 Summer Universiade.

The Boilermakers were chosen to represent the USA about 11 months after the University of Kansas won the 2015 Summer Universiade title in the name of the United States.

Kansas - which was playing without Ukrainian Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Mali's Cheick Diallo - put on an impressive performance, winning all eight games in 11 days, including a thrilling 84-77 double overtime victory over Germany in the final.

It was the first time the United States won the men's title at the Games since 2005, when they beat Ukraine for their 13th championship.

The Kansas selection - which included Southern Methodist point guard Nic Moore and Florida Gulf Coast forward Julian DeBose as replacements for Mykhailiuk and Diallo - was just the second time a single collegiate team was picked to play as the United States at the biennial event. The first was the University of Northern Iowa at the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok, where USA finished ninth.

After the success of the Jayhawks, the US-IUSF decided to invite the Purdue Boilermakers, who gladly accepted to play in the event in Chinese Taipei from 19-30 August 2017.

"We are obviously very excited to represent our country at the World University Games. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our program," Purdue head coach Matt Painter said.

"It is a very unique opportunity for an institution to represent our country. This will be an extremely positive and rewarding experience for everyone associated with Purdue basketball. Our players are thrilled to get the opportunity to represent the Stars and Stripes against the best competition in the world."

The Boilermakers announcement said they were picked over "several other schools that were interested in participating" without naming any of the other candidates.

It's not a surprise that Purdue wanted to compete in the Summer Universiade. The tournament takes place in a time when collegiate coaches are not allowed such intense involvement with their teams. It also gives the college program a lot of international exposure - in a time when more Europeans are choosing to develop their game at US colleges.

It is a very unique opportunity for an institution to represent our country. This will be an extremely positive and rewarding experience for everyone associated with Purdue basketball. Our players are thrilled to get the opportunity to represent the Stars and Stripes against the best competition in the world. - Painter

Playing against strong competition is another element, given that the 24 nations in the tournament can have players up to 25 years old participate - the eligibility for the 2017 Games is players born between 1 January 1992 and 31 December 1999.

The players also learn how to play in foreign atmospheres and under different rules. The main differences the players have to deal with are four 10-minute quarters instead of two 20-minute halves as well as a 24-second shot clock instead of 30 in the college game.

Painter, meanwhile, already has international experience, having served as an assistant coach for the United States team that won the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship in Auckland.

Matt Painter coached the USA team that won the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship

He was also the head coach of the United States at the 2011 Summer Universiade, where the Americans lost to Lithuania in the Quarter-Finals and ended up finishing fifth with a 7-1 record.

Some in the international game might look down on the US-IUSF choosing a specific university to represent the United States in such an international tournament. But it serves a couple of purposes for the Americans.

First off, USA Basketball does not need to organise another team to compete. It also gives the Americans a chance at the competition since most of the other countries are using their A2 teams, many of which have some connection to one another.

This way, there is a USA team that isn't just a random selection of players who hardly know each other or the coach. That in general lifts the quality of the tournament.

And the opposing countries shouldn't complain because many of their teams are older than a US team of collegians - since players usually are out of the NCAA by 22 years or so.

All-in-all, it's a good move for the US-IUSF, which will have no shortage of colleges busting down their door trying to be picked. And it's a great move for Purdue.

Whether it works out again, we'll have to wait until next summer.

David Hein

FIBA

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