2017 U16 Men’s FIBA America’s Championship: Who are the top college prospects?
The U16 men’s FIBA Americas Championship is set to begin.
The USMNT will try to match the success of its female counterparts when the U16 men’s FIBA Americas Championship gets underway on Wednesday. The championship will run from June 13-18.
The USA is the heavy favorite to win the gold medal in Argentina. The U.S. has claimed gold the previous four championships and are 20-0 all-time in the tournament.
The 2017 U.S. team is loaded with top college prospects. Vernon Carey Jr. is the top-rated player in the class of 2019. Carey is a consensus top-10 rated player. De’Vion Harmon, Wendall Moore Jr., and James Wiseman are the other 2019 class members on the team ranked by various recruiting services.
Scottie Barnes, Jalen Green, R.J. Hampton, Jalen Suggs, and Isaiah Todd are among the players from the class of 2020 to watch on Team USA.
“We’re going to be a really good defending team,” said head coach Don Showalter. ” We can get out and put some pressure on people. I love the way our bench played. Seven guys came in off the bench and really gave us a lot of energy. We still need to work on some things. We need to be more consistent on offensive rebounding, but I like the way our team is coming around.”
The U.S. will open the U16 FIBA Championships with a game against fellow Group B participant Puerto Rico. The red, white, and blue will then play the Dominican Republic (June 15) before closing out group play against Mexico on June 16.
USA is the top ranked team by FIBA. Puerto Rico is ranked 18th, the Dominican Republic is 25th, and Mexico is 24th.
Argentina, Canada, Paraguay, and Venezuela are competing in Group A. Canada is the top rated team in the group at No. 3 in the world. Argentina is ranked seventh, and Venezuela is 40th while Paraguay is not ranked.
Argentina and Canada are the only teams other than the U.S. to medal. The Argentinians have three silvers and one bronze. In the meantime, Canada has three bronze medals and one silver. Canada finished second in the 2015 competition; Argentina was third.
The top-four finishers, excluding Argentina, will automatically qualify for the 2018 U17 World Championships. Argentina earned an automatic berth in U17 World Championship as hosts of the event.
Here is a look at other players to watch in the tournament.
Argentina: The Argentinians qualified for the competition by winning the 2016 South American U15 Championship. Gaston Bertona, Mazimo Milovich, and Tomas Chapero are the players to watch. Bertona, a 5″10″ point guard, led the 2016 U15 squad in scoring with 11.8 points a game while shooting 50.0% from the field and 50% from the three-point arc. The 6’7″ Milovich scored in double figures twice and averaged 10 points a game during competition. Chapero is a 6’9″ power forward, who averaged 8.4 points along with 6.4 rebounds during the South American Championship.
Canada: Canada and Argentina should battle for the top spot in Group A. The Canadians are pretty loaded as well. Guards Cashius McNeilly and Luka Sakota are a couple of top college prospects for the Canadians. Other players to watch include power forward Paris Shand, along with point guard Shemar Rathan-Mayes.
Dominican Republic: The D.R. earned a berth in the U16 Tournament after finishing runner-up in the 2016 U15 Centrobasket Championship. Six-foot point guard Derekjeter Meija leads the Dominicans’ prospects. Meija is not the only player worth keeping track of. Small forward David Jones, shooting guard Emmanuel Rodriguez, and possibly Anfernee De La Rosa are other intriguing prospects.
Mexico: Mexico finished third in 2015 Centrobasket Championship.
Paraguay: Paraguay finished second in the 2016 U15 South American Championship. Roberto Mercado, a 5’11” point guard, produced 17.0, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists during the South American Championship. Forwards Fabrizio Aquino and Matheus Blaich are the other players to watch.
Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico has a few very interesting college prospects in 6’3″ shooting guard Jermaine Miranda and point guard Andre Curbelo.
Next: USA Basketball: Hamidou Diallo among current college players trying out for U19 World Cup team
Venezuela: Venezuela finished third in the 2016 U15 South American Championship.