May 6, 2010
USA Men’s U18 National Team Site
Colorado Springs, Colo. – For the second time in his career, Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt will serve as an assistant coach for the USA Men’s U18 National team, joining Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel, the head coach, and Buffalo’s Reggie Witherspoon, the other assistant coach, on the coaching staff of the 2010 USA team for the Men’s FIBA Americas Championship.
The coaching staff was selected by the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee and approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors, and announced by USA Basketball Thursday.
The FIBA Americas U18 Championship, from which the top four finishing teams advance to next summer’s FIBA U19 World Championship, will take place June 26-30 at the Bill Greehey Arena on the campus of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas.
Capel enters his first USA head coaching assignment having previously served as an assistant coach for the gold-medal winning 2005 USA World University Games Team. This marks Hewitt’s second stint as an assistant coach for a USA U18 National Team. He previously aided the 2006 U18 squad to a 4-0 record and gold medal. Witherspoon’s first assignment came as a court coach at the 2006 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team Trials.
“I had a great experience the last time I did this, back in 2006,” said Hewitt, who tackles his third USA Basketball coaching selection this summer. “Working with Lorenzo Romar, Jerry Wainwright and all the kids who won the gold medal was a really positive and memorable experience. I’m looking forward to seeing if we can duplicate that.
“I hope to bring some enthusiasm and support Jeff in how he wants the team to play, whatever he’s teaching the team. Hopefully I can do something to help support him and bring in some ideas that he might find useful.”
Previously Hewitt served as an assistant coach to the 2006 USA U18 National Team that posted a perfect 4-0 mark and won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship. Prior to that Hewitt was a court coach at the 1999 USA Basketball Men’s National Team Trials.
In a decade at Georgia Tech (2000-01 to present), Hewitt has accumulated a record of 177-144 (.551), averaging nearly 18 wins per season. He has directed the Yellow Jackets to four NCAA Tournaments (2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010), including the 2004 NCAA Championship game, and advanced to the 2003 NIT quarterfinals.
Hewitt’s work with young athletes recently was honored by his peers. Awarded the 2010 National Association of Basketball Coaches Guardian of the Game Award for Education, Hewitt embodies the spirit of the award, which is presented annually to a coach who strives to impart lessons of the game, while mentoring young athletes.
In his most recently completed season, Hewitt guided the Yellow Jackets to a 23-13 record, the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament finals and the NCAA Tournament second round.
“Obviously coach Hewitt brings international experience,” said Capel. “He’s coached this team before, so he’ll be a great asset to me as a coach. He’s a really good coach. He’s been a really good coach at Siena and has done a really good job at Georgia Tech, so his experience will really help this team.”
The 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship will feature eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, and only athletes born on or after Jan. 1, 1992 are eligible.
Teams in addition to the United States that will participate in the 2010 U18 tournament include: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and U.S. Virgin Islands.
Preliminary round play will be held June 26-28, semifinals will be contested on June 29 and the gold and bronze medal games, as well as the 5th/6th place and 7th/8th place games, will be conducted on June 30.
The USA opens preliminary play against the U.S. Virgin Islands on June 26, followed by Mexico on June 27 and Argentina on June 28. All of the USA’s preliminary round games are scheduled to tip-off at 7:00 p.m. (CDT).
USA Basketball plans call for selection of the 12-member USA U18 Team to be made during team training that will be held June 14-25 in San Antonio.
Announced on March 17, 2010, as accepting invitations to the 2010 USA Basketball U18 National Team training camp were: Tracy Abrams (Mount Carmel H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Keith Appling (Pershing H.S. / Detroit, Mich.); Vander Blue (James Madison Memorial H.S. / Madison, Wis.); Michael Chandler (Lawrence North H.S. / Indianapolis, Ind.); Trevor Cooney (Sanford H.S. / Wilmington, Del.); Abdul Gaddy (Washington / Tacoma, Wash.); Joshua Hairston (Montrose Christian School (Md.) / Fredericksburg, Va.); P.J. Hairston (Dudley Senior H.S. / Greensboro, N.C.); Tobias Harris (Half Hollow Hills West H.S. / Brookville, N.Y.); Mikael Hopkins (DeMatha Catholic H.S. / Hyattsville, Md.); Joe Jackson (White Station H.S. / Memphis, Tenn.); Terrence Jones (Jefferson H.S. / Portland, Ore.); Meyers Leonard (Robinson H.S. / Robinson, Ill.); Sheldon McClellan (Bellaire H.S. / Pearland, Texas); Quincy Miller (Quality Education Academy / Winston-Salem, N.C.); Jereme Richmond (Waukegan H.S. / Waukegan, Ill.); Austin Rivers (Winter Park H.S. / Winter Park, Fla.); Joshua Smith (Kentwood H.S. / Kent, Wash.); T.J. Taylor (Denison H.S. / Denison, Texas); Amir Williams (Detroit Country Day / Detroit, Mich.); and Patric Young (Providence School / Jacksonville, Fla.).
The USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee, which is chaired by Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim, also consists of Lorenzo Romar (University of Washington head coach), Bruce Weber (University of Illinois head coach), Roy Williams (University of North Carolina head coach), and athlete representative Jay Williams (2002 USA World Championship, 2000 USA U20, 2000 USA Select and 1999 USA Hoop Summit team member).
FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men
Originally known as the FIBA Americas Junior World Championship Qualifier, the tournament has been held since 1990. USA men’s teams boast of a sensational 33-2 overall record in the U18 championships and have won gold in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2006, while capturing a silver medal in 2008 and the bronze in 2002.
Some of the top players who have represented the United States in the past U18 tournaments include Shareef Abdur-Rahim (1994); Carmelo Anthony (2002); Michael Beasley (2006); Chris Bosh (2002); Dee Brown (2002); Nick Collison (1998); Jonny Flynn (2006); Spencer Hawes (2006); Grant Hill (1990); Allan Houston (1990); Andre Iguodala (2002); Stephon Marbury (1994); Mike Miller (1998); Quentin Richardson (1998); Kyle Singler (2006); Kemba Walker (2008); and Deron Williams (2002).
Notable members of foreign national teams who have competed in the U18 Championship include Leandro Barbosa (Brazil) 1994; Jose Barea (Puerto Rico) 2002; Gregory Echenique (Venezuela) 2008; Juan Fernandez (Argentina) 2008; Todd MacCulloch (Canada) 1994; Jamal Magloire (Canada) 1994; Peter Ramos (Puerto Rico) 2002; Luis Scola (Argentina) 1998; Tiago Splitter (Brazil) 2002; and Jesse Young (Canada) 1998.
