April 19, 2012
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Georgia Tech incoming freshman Robert Carter is one of 24 players who have accepted invitations to attend the 2012 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team Training camp June 5-12 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo.
USA Basketball Under-18 team site | USA Under-18 Camp Roster | USA Under-18 Fact Sheet
The group of invitees includes one player with college experience and five players who represented the USA in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit. The USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team committee issued the player invitations.
Carter, a 6-9 forward from Thomasville, Ga., played his senior season at Shiloh High School in Snellville, Ga., and earned first-team all-state honors in class AAAAA and is ranked 33rd nationally (6th among power forwards) in the Rivals150 prep player rankings. He averaged 19 points and 12 rebounds.
While rising sophomore Jarnell Stokes (University of Tennessee/Memphis, Tenn.) is the lone collegian attending camp, graduating high school seniors Gary Harris (Hamilton Southeastern/ Fishers, Ind.); James Robinson (DeMatha Catholic H.S./Mitchellville, Md.); and Rasheed Sulaimon (Strake Jesuit College Prep/Houston, Texas) suited up for the USA at the 15th annual Nike Hoop Summit.
Also from the Class of 2012 are: Ryan Arcidiacono (Neshaminy H.S./Langhorne, Pa.); Robert Carter (Thomasville H.S./Thomasville, Ga.); Sam Dekker (Sheboygan Lutheran H.S./Sheboygan, Wis.); Kris Dunn (New London H.S./Oakdale, Conn.); Shaq Goodwin (Southwest Dekalb H.S./Decatur, Ga.); Jerami Grant (DeMatha Catholic/Bowie, Md.); Montrezl Harrell (Hargrave Military Academy/Tarboro, N.C.); Joel James (Dwyer H.S./West Palm Beach, Fla.); Jake Layman (King Phillip Regional H.S./Wrentham, Mass.); Devonta Pollard (Kemper County/Porterville, Miss.); Rodney Purvis (Upper Room Christian/Raleigh, N.C.); Marcus Smart (Marcus H.S./Flower Mound, Texas); Robert Upshaw (Edison H.S./Fresno, Calif.); and Adam Woodbury (East H.S./Sioux City, Iowa).
Participants set to graduate in 2013 include: Jabari Bird (Salesian H.S./Vallejo, Calif.); Nathaniel Britt, II (Gonzaga H.S., D.C./Upper Marlboro, Md.); Aaron Harrison (Travis H.S./Richmond, Texas); Andrew Harrison (Travis H.S./Richmond, Texas); Julius Randle (Prestonwood Christian Academy/ McKinney, Texas); and Troy Williams (Phoebus H.S./Hampton, Va.).
The 2012 USA U18 National Team will be led by a trio of experienced and successful college coaches at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, including Billy Donovan (University of Florida) as head coach, with Mark Few (Gonzaga University) and Shaka Smart (Virginia Commonwealth University) as assistant coaches.
“It will be important to learn to play together as a team in a short amount of time,” Donovan said. “We need to demonstrate great focus and teamwork and bring a high level of energy and effort every day in order to have success both in training camp and throughout the competition.”
Following the first three or four days of training camp from June 5-12 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo., finalist for the team will be selected by the USA Men’s Junior National Team Committee and will continue to train at the USOTC.
“We have a very talented group of young players that will have a great chance of bringing home a gold medal in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship,” said Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University and Hall of Fame coach and chair of the USA Junior National Team Committee. “As is the case each year, our USA Team will be up against the best players in their age group in the world. They will face great competition from the other participating countries.
The official, 12-member 2012 USA Men’s U18 National Team will be selected prior to the team’s departure for the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, which will be played June 16-20 in Sao Sebastiáo do Paraiso, Brazil. Players eligible for this competition must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1994.
