USA Basketball has begun the process of selecting its roster for the AmeriCup 2017, the first of a series of qualifying tournaments under FIBA’s new format. As Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press details, Team USA doesn’t need to win the AmeriCup to qualify for the next World Cup and Olympics, but it’s a tournament the U.S. must participate in to eventually play in more crucial events.
Because upcoming qualifiers will take place during the NBA season, Team USA is putting together a roster primarily made up of G League players and veterans who have been playing overseas, as we previously learned. With training camp set to begin on Thursday, 17 hopefuls are suiting up for Team USA, with the program poised to eventually pare that group down to a 12-man roster.
Here are Team USA’s training camp participants, via USA Basketball:
- Billy Baron (UCAM Murcia, Spain)
- Rod Benson (Wonju Dongbu Promy, South Korea)
- Alec Brown (Windy City Bulls)
- Will Davis II (Reno Bighorns)
- Larry Drew II (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
- Reggie Hearn (Reno Bighorns)
- Darrun Hilliard (Detroit Pistons)
- Jonathan Holmes (Canton Charge)
- Ra’Shad James (Cedevita Zagreb, Croatia)
- Kendall Marshall (Reno Bighorns)
- Darius Morris (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)
- Xavier Munford (Greensboro Swarm)
- Marshall Plumlee (New York Knicks)
- Jameel Warney (Texas Legends)
- C.J. Williams (Texas Legends)
- Reggie Williams (Oklahoma City Blue)
- Derek Willis (University of Kentucky)
Although there are no high-profile names in this group, several players have some NBA experience. Hilliard is currently a free agent, but appeared in 77 games over the last two seasons for the Pistons. Drew, Munford, and Plumlee have all played in at least a dozen NBA games.
Marshall, Morris, and Reggie Williams are perhaps the most notable names on the list, having played regular rotation roles for various NBA teams in recent years. Marshall was a lottery pick in the 2012 draft, while Williams has appeared in more than 200 NBA games since 2010.
None of the players on Team USA’s training camp roster are currently under contract with an NBA club, but Willis – the only player of the group who has yet to play professional ball – has reportedly agreed to a training camp deal with the Pistons.
The club will be coached by Jeff Van Gundy, an international rookie himself, and will eventually participate in preliminary round games in Uruguay later this month. If Team USA wins its group – which also includes Panama, the Dominican Republic, and host Uruguay – it would advance to the semifinals in Argentina in early September.
As Mahoney outlines in his report, Team USA won’t face real pressure to win until November, when the club need a top-three finish in a pool that includes Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Cuba in order to start advancing to later qualifiers. For more in-depth details on how those qualifiers work, be sure to check out FIBA’s breakdowns for the 2019 World Cup and the 2020 Olympics.