BASKETBALL: USA Draws Group B For 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship For Men, Set To Open Against Iran FIBA on March 2 conducted the draw for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men in Auckland, New Zealand.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 2, 2009) -- FIBA on March 2 conducted the draw for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men in Auckland, New Zealand, host of this year’s U19 Worlds, and the USA has been placed in Group B, along with Egypt, France and Iran. Sixteen countries will compete in the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship that will be held July 2-12.
The 12 remaining 19-and-under national teams were distributed as such: Group A includes Angola, Greece, Lithuania and Puerto Rico, Group C consists of Australia, Canada, Spain and Syria, and Group D is comprised of Argentina, Croatia, Kazakhstan and host New Zealand.
Trials and team training for the USA Men’s U19 National Team will begin on June 15 at the United States Olympic Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., with approximately 20-25 of the nation’s top 19-and-unders, born on or after Jan. 1, 1990, competing for a roster spot.
The 2009 coaching staff and invitees for the USA U19 National Team Trials will be made at a later date.
Led by Davidson College head coach Bob McKillop, the 2008 U.S. squad secured its berth to the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship with a silver medal finish in its zone qualifier, the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, held July 14-18 in Mendoza, Argentina.
With all game times still to be determined, the U.S. squad’s preliminary round slate opens with a July 2 contest against Iran, followed by France on July 3 and the USA squad will celebrate the Fourth of July by taking on Egypt. The top three teams from each preliminary group will qualify for the preliminary second round, while the fourth place teams will qualify for the classification round to determine 13th to 16th places.
The twelve teams qualified for the second round, which will be played July 6-8, will be divided into groups E and F, with six teams in each group. The top three preliminary round teams from groups A and B will advance to Group E, and the top three from C and D will advance to Group F. Each team will play the three new teams in its new group, with the final scores of all games played in the preliminary round carrying over to determine the second round standings.
Teams finishing in first through fourth places in the second round will qualify for the quarterfinals, with the opportunity to advance to the semifinals and finals. Teams finishing in fifth and sixth places in Groups E and F will play for ninth through 12th places. The quarterfinals will be held on July 10, semifinals are slated for July 11 and the gold medal game will be contested on July 12.
In addition to host New Zealand, which earned an automatic berth, teams qualified for the ’09 U19 Worlds through FIBA Zone qualification tournaments held in 2008. Including the USA, which finished in second place, FIBA Americas is represented by gold medalist Argentina, bronze medalist Canada, and Puerto Rico, which finished
