REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - The FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 tips off in just over three weeks on July 1 in Cairo. And while most teams have a strong grasp of what their team will look like, the two-time reigning champions United States have only now sifted through rejection letters and texts and announced a pool of 28 players from which to choose for head coach John Calipari.

While the United States almost always have their picking of the elite players for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup, the USA team at the biennial U19 global spectacle usually is younger in terms of elite talent while also including lower level college veterans among the eligible generation.

That will likely be the case again in Egypt as USA Basketball announced a 28-player pool that glaringly misses the top players who could help USA go for a three-peat.

Jayson Tatum and Josh Jackson (middle two players) have celebrated together in the past - as here at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2015.

One of the biggest reasons is the NBA Draft, which takes place on June 22 in New York City - the same day that USA head coach John Calipari is expected to select his 12-man roster. Among the expected 2017 NBA first round draft picks who would be eligible for the USA team in Cairo are Markelle Fultz, Jayson Tatum, Josh Jackson, Malik Monk, Harry Giles, Jarrett Allen and Terrance Ferguson. All of those players except for Monk has USA Basketball experience while Tatum, Jackson, Giles and Ferguson played together at multiple youth FIBA Basketball World Cups for the Red, White and Blue.

So, next cut off the likes of Michael Porter Jr., Quade Green, Mohamed Bamba and Matt Coleman - all who will not be playing in Cairo but helped get the USA qualified by winning the FIBA U18 Americas Championship 2016. To their credit, the quartet of Hamidou Diallo, Kevin Huerter, PJ Washington and Trae Young all will come to the tryouts after winning the U18 Americas crown last summer.

Another common pitfall the USA Basketball U19 team selection committee faces is rising college freshmen needing to get onto campus ahead of time - often for summer school work. That often will chip away at the elite players from the generation one year below the eligible one - in this case, the top Americans born in 1999.

That means the likes of Collin Sexton, who was named the MVP of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016 as well as fellow U17 All-Star Five team member Wendell Carter Jr. While Sexton readies himself for University of Alabama, Carter will be heading to Duke along with U17 teammate Gary Trent Jr. and Trevon Duval, a 1998-born top-five high school senior last season who has never played for USA Basketball. Another top 10 high school senior from last season who was at Zaragoza 2016 but will not be available for Calipari in Cairo is Michigan State-bound Jaren Jackson Jr. But U17 champions Kevin Knox II, Immanuel Quickley and Austin Wiley will shoot for a chance to play in Cairo. 

Missing out on those other talents, however, means USA Basketball's selection committee went to look at the top rising high school seniors and while they did not get the top two of Marvin Begley III and Zion Williamson, numbers three and four in the ESPN rankings Romeo Langford and Cameron Reddish will be at the tryouts. Three other youngsters just having completed their junior year of high school will be there as well in Quickley from the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup team, Louis King and Bol Bol.

Bol is the son of the late former NBA star Manute Bol and is emerging as a major talent heading into his senior year. The 1999-born Bol is a 7ft 1in (2.16m) center who can also take his game outside.

USA Basketball has traditionally countered the absences of top notch players with a group of players with college experience. Elfrid Payton had even played two seasons of college at Louisiana-Lafayette before becoming one of the absolute revelations at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2013.

This year's college group includes Marques Bolden, who played for Duke last season and was at the 2016 Nike Hoop Summit along with Payton Pritchard, who helped Oregon reach this season's NCAA Final Four.

Three other college players were named to their respective conference all-freshman teams with Georgia Tech's Josh Okogie in the ACC, Shamorie Ponds of St. John's in the Big East and Quinton Rose from Temple in the American.

Altogether is this the group of players that John Calipari was hoping to get when he signed on as the U19 USA head coach? Of course not. But there is some very good talent in this pool of players and the United States must be considered a serious title contender when they land in Cairo.

Calipari will have the Americans playing a suffocating press on defense and run at all occasions. As is quite common for USA teams at this competition, they will likely be at their worst in their first game - against Iran - and continually get better over the course of the tournament. Not only will teams looking to dethrone the USA need to have size to match the Americans, but they will also need strong and reliable ball-handlers.

Putting new teams together quickly is nothing new for Calipari who often loses a number of his top leaders every season from Kentucky to the NBA. But there is always the off-season and a long college campaign to work the team into shape. Calipari won't talk to the full 28-player group until June 18 - less than two weeks before the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 tips off on July 1. And he will have his final 12-man roster just nine days before Iran await in the opener.

Do we know what the USA team will look like in Cairo? Not necessarily. But at least we are a bit closer now with the group of 28 players set.

David Hein

FIBA

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