SAN JUAN (FIBA AmeriCup 2017) - Puerto Rico coach Eddie Casiano is going to have some new faces in the national team this summer when the Boricuas play at the FIBA AmeriCup 2017 and also launch their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 qualifying campaign.

Long-time players Carlos Arroyo, Peter John Ramos and Renaldo Balkman have called it a day with Puerto Rico and Jose Barea has decided to take a year off.

"Many people are asking for a generational change and this year, it's going to happen faster," said Casiano, the former Puerto Rico stalwart who led the team for the first time last summer, to Primera Hora. "We're looking for new blood and youth."

Among the players that Casiano and the federation have been in communication with are Cholet guard Ángel Rodriguez, University of Central Florida guard Ivan Gandia, George Washington University power forward Arnaldo Toro, Texas A&M center Tyler Davis, Oregon State shooting guard Stephen Thompson and University of Illinois at Chicago forward KJ Santos.

"We have visited some of them and we have spoken to others in order to let them know of our interest," Casiano said. "We want to include them already in the national program."

There will be familiar faces in the lineup this summer, too, the coach has said.

"There are young veterans that have told us of their availability to return, such as Carlos Rivera, Alex Abreu, Ramon Clemente, Ricky Sanchez, Jorge Bryan Diaz and John Holland," Casiano said.

Clemente, Diaz, Holland and Sanchez were in the Puerto Rico side that reached the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Final (OQT) in Serbia. Casiano's team lost that game, 108-77.

"But we want to continue to see the development of others in the BSN (Baloncesto Superior Nacional) like Devon Collier, Kevin Young, Matt Lopez and Carlos 'Yao' Lopez," Casiano said.

"We have to have an ample inventory of players, not just for the FIBA AmeriCup 2017 but also for the FIBA windows that start in November.

Over a four-year cycle from 2017 through 2021, national teams will play regular home and away games to qualify for the World Cup and the FIBA Continental Cups 2021.

The windows for World Cup qualifying will be 20-28 November, 19-27 February, 2018, 25 June to 3 July, 10-18 September, 26 November to 4 December and 20-28 February, 2019.

Casiano was fiercely proud to represent Puerto Rico when he was a player and is looking for those that have the same dedication that he had.

"For me, the most important thing is that one is committed to the country, that they have a desire to play, not people that you need to beg," he said.

FIBA