Kentucky signee is one of 12 players who will head to Greece in late June and represent the USA
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Kentucky men’s basketball signee Isaiah Briscoe will don his country’s colors as a member of the 2015 USA Basketball Men’s U19 Team during the FIBA World Championship that will begin June 27 in Greece. Briscoe was one of 12 players to make the final cuts on Wednesday and will look to capture a gold medal for the second time in his USA Basketball career.
One of 21 players who were invited to the USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Championship Team training camp, Briscoe landed one of the six guard spots on the final Team USA Roster. USA Basketball selected 12 members from the training camp roster who will now go on to represent the United States at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship, which will be held June 27 through July 5 in Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
To be eligible for the team, athletes must be U.S. citizens who are 19 years old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1996).
“The 12 that made it are excellent players and really talented,” Team USA head coach Sean Miller (Arizona) said in a release. “Obviously it was a hard fight to make this team because of the talent. The thing that we like a lot is the fact that we have eight players of the 12 that have competed and won a gold medal, several have won multiple gold medals. We have a lot of versatility in our lineup, we have players that can play more than one position and I think playing pressure basketball like we want to play defensively and offensively, that we have the depth, athleticism and quickness, and also some shooting that will really allow us to play a style that we can be successful at.”
Briscoie is one of three players who helped the USA qualify for the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship by going 5-0 and capturing the gold at the 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championships.
The training camp, which started Friday at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., will continue through Sunday.
Briscoe, a 6-foot-3 point guard from Newark, N.J. who signed with Kentucky in the fall, is in his second go-around with USA Basketball. In addition to the gold medal he won last year at the 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, Briscoe also suited up for the USA at the 2015 Nike Hoop Summit.
As defending U19 champions, Team USA has an opportunity to win consecutive FIBA U19 World Championships for just the second time since the competition began in 1979. The U.S. captured back-to-back gold medals in 1979 and 1983. The U.S. also won gold in 1991, 2009 and 2013.
Briscoe will suit up for Kentucky as a freshman for the 2015-16 season. One of the key members of UK’s highly-touted four-man signing class for 2015, Briscoe has been named a USA Today All-USA First Team selection and a Parade Magazine All-American. He also participated in the McDonald’s All American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic.
Past members of the USA U19 team include standouts such as Vince Carter (1995), Stephen Curry (2007), Stephon Marbury (1995), Gary Payton (1987), Klay Thompson (2009), Deron Williams (2003) and James Worthy (1979).
Past Wildcats on the USA U19 team include James Blackmon (1983), Darius Miller (2009) and Kenny Walker (1983). Miller’s team won gold.
More information on the 2015 USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Championship Team, including the final 2015 USA Basketball Men’s U19 Team roster, can be found at usab.com.
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