Butch Estes is the right man for the job.
The head coach at Palm Beach State Junior College will lead a talented group of high school juniors to Mannheim, Germany in April to participate in the 26th Albert Schweitzer Basketball Tournament.
"We have a two-year turnover (in junior college)" Estes told MaxPreps. "That will help getting the (U.S.) kids ready. I'm used to quick turnarounds. We're going to have a nice balance of positions."
The team has been put together by Kentuckian Eddie Ford, whose son, Travis, is the head coach at Oklahoma State University.
The tournament, which includes teams from 16 countries, will run from April 7-14. The team will leave on April 2 and return on April 15. Estes said that he will have four practices and two exhibition games during the first four days in Germany. There will be one day off before pool play gets underway.
Other entries are from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Serbia, Spain and Turkey.
One of the best known players on the U.S. roster is
Stephen Clark a high-scoring guard from
Douglass (Oklahoma City, Okla.). During his junior year he had a high game of 65 points.
At least three of the players have committed to Division I colleges.
They include 6-foot-9
Derek Willis of
Bullitt East (Mt. Washington, Ky.), to Kentucky; 6-7
Collin Hartman of
Indianapolis Cathedral (Indianapolis, Ind.) to Indiana; and 6-0
Derrick Walton Jr. of
Chandler Park Academy (Harper Woods, Mich.) to Michigan.
Estes added that a film crew will accompany the team and the games are expected to be streamed live on the internet, though he had no details at this time.
