MADRID (FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017) - Spanish coach Luis Guil was looking for as much continuity as possible in naming his 12-man Spain roster for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 with eight players back from the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016.

Guil brought back six of his top seven scorers from last year's FIBA U18 European Championship, where Spain finished fifth to qualify for the world tournament in Cairo from 1-9 July.

Leading scorer Aleix Font is back as are his Barcelona teammates Maxim Esteban and captain Pol Figueras. While Font was the leading scorer and Figuera tops in assists at the U18 continental event, Ignacio Rosa was third in scoring and rebounds. Rosa is one of three players from the 1999 generation along with Osas Ehigitor and Pol Molins.

Guil will get to coach Ehigitor this year after the big man missed the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 with an injury after having played in the summer at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016.

Two other players were supposed to play at the tournament but could not after it was postponed from the summer to December. Both Eric Vila and Joshua Tomaic were in the United States at the time at colleges.

Tomaic and Molins meanwhile will be making their Spanish national team debuts in Cairo.

Spain are drawn into Group C with Canada, Japan and Mali.

FIBA