World's top teens selected for basketball team

pulse

March 15, 2017 5:47 PM

The annual showdown between the United States and global 19-and-under talent will be staged April 7 at Portland.

In all, 70 former US players and 38 past world players were NBA players as of December, with 199 former Summit players in all having been drafted by the league

Australian guard Angus Glover, Jamaican big man Nick Richards and four Canadian standouts are among the top global teen players named Wednesday to the World Team for the 20th Hoop Summit.

The annual showdown between the United States and global 19-and-under talent will be staged April 7 at Portland, Oregon with the World lineup seeking a fourth victory in the past six contests to try and trim the 13-6 US edge in the all-time rivalry.

In all, 70 former US players and 38 past world players were NBA players as of December, with 199 former Summit players in all having been drafted by the league.

Glover plays for the Illawarra Hawks in Australia's top league and has signed with St. Mary's, which opens play in the US national college tournament Thursday.

Richards, who plays at a New Jersey prep school, will play for US college powerhouse Kentucky next season.

The Canadians include forward R.J. Barrett and guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lindell Wigginton and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The team also will be coached by Canada's Roy Rana, who has a 3-3 record in the Summit.

Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 7.8 points and 5.4 assists for Canada in last year's FIBA Americas Under-18 event and will also play at Kentucky next year. Alexander-Walker averaged 17.4 points and Wigginton 14.0 points in the same event, at which Canada lost to the US team in the final.

Also on the global team are forwards Tadas Sedekerskis and Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania and Kostja Mushidi and Borisa Simanic of Serbia, plus 7-foot centers Felipe Dos Anjos of Brazil and Ikechukwu Obiagu of Nigeria.