Arizona signee and top recruit Aaron Gordon has made the cut to 16 for the 2013 USA Basketball Men's U19 World Championship team.
USA Basketball officials made the announcement Sunday morning. The team will be pared down to 12 by the end of the week before it goes to Prague, Czech Republic, later in the month.
"We had 26 really, really good players, and all of the guys made the selection very, very difficult," USA U19 and University of Florida head coach Billy Donovan said through a press release. "I think the things that stand out about this team (are) just the athleticism, the speed and quickness, the ability to defend and put pressure on people and offensive rebound.
"We still have to get down to 12 players, and the challenge right now is to see how these 16 guys fit into what we're trying to do. We'll learn a lot more in the next three practices; we'll see how well guys pick up certain things, how the chemistry is, the way they bond, the way they connect.
"I think the biggest thing is just our unity, us being connected, understanding what the goal is and them playing together, playing unselfishly. We have a lot of versatile players,guys that can move to different positions. I think we have a lot of size and strength on this team. I think we have guards that can defend and have good quickness and speed," added Donovan.
Donovan led the 2012 USA U18 Team to a 5-0 record, a FIBA Americas U18 gold medal and a qualifying berth for the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.
Here are the remaining players on the roster:
Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova/Langhorne, Pa.); Damyean Dotson (Oregon/Houston, Texas); Michael Frazier (Florida/Tampa, Fla.); Marcus Georges-Hunt (Georgia Tech/College Park, Ga.); Aaron Gordon (Archbishop Mitty H.S./San Jose, Calif.); Jerami Grant (Syracuse/Bowie, Md.); Montrezl Harrell (Louisville/Tarboro, N.C.); Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young H.S./Chicago, Ill.); Elfrid Payton (Louisiana-Lafayette/Gretna, La.); James Robinson (Pittsburgh/Mitchellville, Md.); Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State/Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes (Tennessee/Memphis, Tenn.); Rasheed Sulaimon (Duke/Houston, Texas); Mike Tobey (University of Virginia/Monroe, N.Y.); Nigel Williams-Goss (Findlay Prep/Happy Valley, Ore.); and Justise Winslow (St. Johns H.S./Houston, Texas).
