USA Basketball's U16 team taking shape

No pressure. Just don't lose – and it better not be close.

USA Basketball released the roster for its U16 Men's Developmental National Team on Wednesday. The 23 rising stars will participate in a training camp May 30-June 7 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

A dozen players will be selected to represent the United States in the FIBA Americas U16 Championship, held June 11-15 in Uruguay and a qualifier for the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship.

USA Basketball's past two FIBA Americas U16 Championship entrants have been dominant.



In 2009, a Bradley Beal-led squad averaged 113 points per game while going 5-0 en route to the gold in Argentina.

In 2011, it was Aaron Gordon and Jabari Parker helping the USA crush opponents by an average 42.2 points per game during another gold run in Mexico.

Most of the players heading to Colorado Springs in late May also participated in another mini-camp last October. Head coach Don Showalter will further his evaluation in the coming weeks on the summer circuit.

"As training camp gets closer, it's really exciting because I'm going to go watch some of the kids play in their spring AAU tournaments," Showalter said. "That's always nice to see how they play with their teammates there. I'll do some evaluation, not only of their skill levels, but their attitudes and what kind of teammates they are, how they will fit into our team."

Showalter has maintained a philosophy of picking the best team and not necessarily the best individual talent, but it's hard to imagine the Uruguay-bound 12 not featuring 6-foot-10 Diamond Stone of Dominican (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) and 6-9 Ivan Rabb of Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) – two of the nation's top sophomores.

Other 2015 headliners heading into the mini-camp will be 6-10 Daniel Giddens of Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) and high-scoring guard Malik Newman of Callaway (Jackson, Miss.). Top freshmen include Tyus Battle, Harry Giles, Joshua Jackson, V.J. King, Josh Langford and Seventh Woods.



"I think that just with the initial look at them, they seem to be a very talented group," said Showalter, who is also the head coach at Iowa City High School. "I think our bigs are especially talented."

Assisting Showalter in Uruguay will be Eric Flannery of St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) and L.J. Goolsby of club team KC Run GMC.

2013-14 USA Basketball Men's Developmental National Team roster
Edrice Adebayo (6-8, 220, Fr., PF/C) – Northside (Pinetown, N.C.)
Tyus Battle (6-5, 170, Fr., G) – Gill St. Bernard's (Gladstone, N.J.)
Thomas Bryant (6-9, 200, So., F) – Bishop Kearney (Rochester, N.Y.)
Amir Coffey (6-3, 160, Fr., G) – Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.)
Bryant Crawford (6-2, 165, So., G) – Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)
Eric Davis (6-3, 160, So., G) – Arthur Hill (Saginaw, Mich.)
Henry Ellenson (6-9, 250, So., F/C) – Rice Lake (Wis.)
Daniel Giddens (6-10, 215, So., F/C) – Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.)
Harry Giles (6-8, 205, Fr., F) – Wesleyan Christian Academy (High Point, N.C.)
Mustapha Heron (6-4, 190, So., G) – Wilbraham & Monson Academy (Mass.)
Joshua Jackson (6-6, 175, Fr., G/F) – Consortium College Prep (Detroit)
V.J. King (6-6, 175, Fr., G/F) – St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio)
Josh Langford (6-5, 200, Fr., G/F) – Madison Academy (Madison, Ala.)
T.J. Leaf (6-7, 200, Fr., F) – Foothills Christian (El Cajon, Calif.)
Malik Monk (6-3, 170, Fr., G) – East Poinsett County (Lepanto, Ark.)
Malik Newman (6-4, 185, So., G) – Callaway (Jackson, Miss.)
Ivan Rabb (6-9, 220, So., F) – Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.)
Horace Spencer (6-8, 210, So., F) – William Tennent (Warminster, Pa.)
Diamond Stone (6-10, 250, So., F/C) – Dominican (Whitefish Bay, Wis.)
Jayson Tatum (6-5, 170, Fr., G) – Chaminade (St. Louis, Mo.)
Derryck Thornton (6-1, 170, Fr., G) – Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.)
D.J. Williams (6-7, 185, So., G/F) – Simeon (Chicago)
Seventh Woods (6-1, 170, Fr., G) – Hammond (Columbia, S.C.)