COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Tennessee Vols forward and Southwind High School graduate Jarnell Stokes along with University of Memphis men’s basketball signee Shaq Goodwin have been named to the Team USA Basketball U18 roster. The team was announced by members of the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee early Sunday morning following their ninth practice since June 5.
The 12 players will continue to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center through June 12. Then they will depart for the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Sao Sebastiáo do Paraiso, Brazil, June 16-20. Team USA opens play in Group A with Brazil, Mexico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The red, white and blue will face the U.S. Virgin Islands June 16, Mexico June 17 and Brazil June 18.
The top two teams from Groups A and B advance to play for 1st through 4th place June 19-20. The semifinal games are scheduled for June 19. The gold medal matchup is June 20.
This is the fourth consecutive summer that a Tigers player has been a member of Team USA and participated in an international tournament. Last summer, Joe Jackson played on USA Basketball’s U19 squad in Latvia, while Adonis Thomas was a member of USA Basketball’s U16 (2009) and U17 (2010) teams.
Jackson was Team USA’s U19 second-leading scorer (11.6 ppg) in helping the squad to a fifth-place finish. Thomas’ Team USA U16 won the tournament in Argentina, and his U17 squad won the gold medal in Hamburg, Germany.
Florida’s Billy Donovan is Team USA’s U18 head coach, and he will be assisted by Gonzaga’s Mark Few and VCU’s Shaka Smart.
Joining Goodwin and Stokes on the roster are Nathaniel Britt II, Sam Dekker, Jerami Grant, Montrezl Harrell, Jake Layman, Rodney Purvis, Julius Randle, James Robinson, Marcus Smart and Rasheed Sulaimon.
