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USA Basketball: Arizona Basketball Commit Terrance Ferguson going for 4th Gold Medal

By Shereen Rayan

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Arizona Basketball commit Terence Ferguson heeded the call from Team USA and is the headliner on the 26-man preliminary roster.

Ferguson is the main headliner on this year’s 2016 U18 Team USA. Terrance is a three-time USA Basketball gold medalist who will play for Head Coach Shaka Smart. He won gold at the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship, and 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship. To say he is experienced at playing for Team USA is an understatement.

The FIBA Championship for the U18 teams will be held this in Valdivia, Chile from 19-23 July.

According to FIBA News columnist David Hein wrote about Ferguson’s chances to make the final roster, “It would be a major surprise if Ferguson doesn’t make the team, which will hold training camps from 14-18 June and 11-15 July before departing for South America. The Texas resident is the only one of the 26 athletes who has played in an official FIBA 5×5 basketball competition.”

The 26-man roster includes athletes from 16 states, four from New York. Seven of the 26 have firmly committed to a D1 NCAA Basketball program and rank in the Top 60 listed in ESPN’s Class of 2017 (Ferguson ranks No. 11 in the Class of 2016): 

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"Porter at No. 3, Bamba at No. 4, M.J. Walker at No. 8, McCoy at No. 9, Petty at No. 10, Diallo at No. 14, Harvey at No. 17, Washington at No. 19, Young at No. 20, Coleman at No. 21, Lonnie Walker at No. 23, Felton at No. 24, Bowen at No. 26, Wilkes at No. 27, Timon at No. 28, Green at No. 40, and Robinson at No. 45."

Note: Jarrett Allen, the No. 15 ranked player in the ESPN Class of 2016 top 100 is also on the U18 roster of 26, ESPN lists him as undecided between Texas and Kansas just to name a few.

USA Basketball explained the training camp schedule as follows:

"Invitations to the camp were issued by USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee, chaired by Jim Boeheim (Syracuse). Training camp to determine finalists for the USA U18 National Team will take place June 14-18 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Training camp will resume July 11-15 in Houston, and the final 12-member team will be announced prior to the team departing for Chile."

"Athletes eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens who are 18 years old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1998). Led by University of Texas head coach Shaka Smart and assisted by collegiate head coaches Kevin Ollie from University of Connecticut and Mark Turgeon from University of Maryland"

The U18 Team USA committee includes the University of Washington and Markell Fultz‘s (Class of 2016) future Pac-12 head coach Lorenzo Romar, along with Matt Painter (Purdue), Bob McKillop (Davidson), and athlete representative Curtis Sumpter. Last season, the committee chose the final roster, we have to assume it will be the same this year.

Since media have been referring to Ferguson as the headliner, you could assume he will make the team. Getting to play for these three coaches is an unparalleled opportunity to learn from the very best. It can only help in the future for the NCAA tournament in case Arizona plays any of these coaches; he may get the upper hand on strategies each coach may employ.

must read: Arizona Basketball: Sean Miller Catches Everyone up to Speed

These coaches will also get to know Ferguson and his playing style, but the experience can only add more to Ferguson. Zona Zealots cannot wait to follow the FIBA U18 tournament, and wish Terrance a great experience in obtaining his 4th gold medal. BearDown Terrance!!

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