44 Players From Classes Of 2015 And 2016 Featured At 2012 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Mini-Camp
the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team program in 2009, and recording gold medal finishes at the 2010 and 2012 FIBA U17 World Championships and 2009 and 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championships, USA Basketball got a first look at possible players for the 2013- 14 Developmental National Team during an Oct. 5-7 mini- camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The mini-camp featured 44
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players and was utilized to help USA Basketball train and evaluate members of the high school classes of 2015 and 2016. The training camp consisted of four training sessions Oct. 6 and Oct. 7. The USA Basketball
ith an overall record of 26-0 since founding
newcomers were directed by Don Showalter (Iowa City H.S., Iowa), who has captured four straight gold medals as head coach of the USA Developmental National Team from 2009-2012. “I think on the first day everybody
USA Basketball Developmental National Team head coach Don Showalter gives instruction during a mini- camp session that was held in October for 44 USA Developmental National Team hopefuls.
who understands what we want. So, you get a good picture.” Thirty-four of the 44 players
was finding out how good they were, what the skill level was. I think after the first day, they felt a little more comfort- able with what they were doing. And so, I thought everything picked up another level Sunday, just because they felt a little more comfortable with the players around them and the coaching staff,” commented Showalter on the mini-camp. “We tried to get enough scrimmag-
ing in so that the kids feel they can show what they can do in game situations. “With 44 players, I think you pick
out positions and you watch what positions are playing well, who is play- ing well at what positions. So, I think you get a pretty good idea of what is going on, and after two full days, kids get a little tired, but you can also pick up who can fight through being tired and
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involved in the mini-camp were born on or after Jan. 1, 1997, and therefore are eligible for the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship (should the USA qualify). The remaining 10 players are eligible for future events such as the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, the 3x3 FIBA U18 World Championship and the Nike Hoop Summit. USA Basketball also selected four
coaches to assist during the camp: Terry Dunn (Sierra H.S., Colo.), L.J. Goolsby (KC Run GMC AAU, Mo.), James Lane (Doherty H.S., Colo.) and Leo Papile (BABC AAU, Mass.). Also assisting on court were committee members Eric Flannery (St. Edwards H.S., Ohio) and John Olive (Torrey Pines H.S., Calif.). “For what we do with USA
Basketball, this helps us identify a lot of players that have some abilities, obviously, and then it gives us a great
chance to give them the philosophy of USA Basketball and what our beliefs are as far as developing a team, not an all- star group. Those kind of things are important. We want to give them a feel for the big picture of USA Basketball,” said Showalter on the benefits of the camp. “I thought this group was really
strong with our bigs, our front court kids are really strong. Our perimeter, wing players were very, very good. Overall I think it's going to be a very good group.” The invitations to the mini-camp
were issued by the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Committee which includes non-voting chair Sean Ford (USA Basketball Men’s National Team Director), AAU appointees Ron Crawford (Arkansas Wings AAU) and Boo Williams (Boo Williams AAU); National Federation of High Schools representatives Flannery and Olive; and athlete representative Kermit Holmes (1999 USA Pan American Games Team).