ISTANBUL (FIBA U19 World Championship) – Turkey coach Omer Ugurata will give five players the chance to crack the reigning U18 European champion team as they prepare for the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Ugurata nominated 17 players for the preparations ahead of this summer’s U19 World Championship, where Turkey will face Spain, Argentina and China in Group B. All 12 players who claimed the title at the 2014 U18 European Championship were invited to the camp as well as five extra players, who will try to use the opportunity to make the final 12-man squad for the 27 June-5 July tournament in Heraklion/Crete, Greece.

Ugurata will work with all 12 players from last summer - Metehan Akyel, Ege Arar, Yigit Arslan, Ogulcan Baykan, Kadir Bayram, Tolga Gecim, Akif Egemen Guven, Furkan Korkmaz, Ayberk Olmaz, Dogus Ozdemiroglu, Berk Ugurlu and Okben Ulubay. The coach also invited Mehmet Alemdaroglu, Mert Cevik, Mertcan Solkol, Dogukan Tekfidan and Ismail Cem Ulusoy to the camp.

The 17-year-old Korkmaz was also included in Turkey’s preliminary roster for the U18 European Championship, which will run from 23 July-2 August.

While Solkol, Tekfidan and Ulusoy have never played for Turkey in the youth ranks, Alemdaroglu and Cevik both played for Turkey at the 2012 U16 European Championship, which the Turks won. Cevik also was on the Turkish team at the 2014 Albert Schweitzer Tournament but did not make the final team for the U18 European Championship.

Ugurata and the coaching staff started the preparations with just eight players and will get more and more players into the team as the Turkish TBL league comes to an end in the coming days.

"We don’t have a lot of time to prepare. There are things we have to work hard at in a limited time period," Ugurata said.

"We’re not going to do anything out of the ordinary."

Ugurata said he will work on his offensive and defensive tactics with the team as he tries to give them an opportunity to rest after the season.

"For me, the important point is to focus on a fast offensive alongside transition offense," the coach said.

"Then in preparation games we will test ourselves."

Here is the full 17-man preliminary Turkey roster:

Furkan Korkmaz, Okben Ulubay, Ismail Cem Ulusoy, Tolga Gecim, Dogus Ozdemiroglu, Berk Ugurlu, Ege Arar, Dogukan Tekfidan, Ogulcan Baykan, Akif Egemen Guven, Kadir Bayram, Yigit Arslan, Mert Cevik, Metehan Akyel, Mehmet Alemdaroglu, Mertcan Solkol, Ayberk Olmaz

FIBA