COLORADO SPRINGS (FIBA U17 World Championship) - Nine members of the United States team that won the FIBA Americas U16 Championship U16 last summer were named to the 12-man roster for the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship which gets underway next week (8-16 August).

Leading the squad will be U16 MVP Malik Newman, who paced the Americans in scoring last summer. Also back are top rebounder Ivan Rabb, Terrence Ferguson, Harry Giles, Josh Jackson, V.J. King, Devearl Ramsey, Diamond Stone and Jayson Tatum.

The remaining three players to make the final cut from the group of 17 are newcomers Tyus Battle, Henry Ellenson and Caleb Swanigan.

"Any one of the 17 players could have been a part of our 12," said USA head coach Don Showalter.

"We couldn't really make a wrong decision. Whoever would have been picked would have been the right decision. It just boiled down to filling in some gaps as far as who could play well together and who's going to be specialty people for us. That's what it kind of boiled down to."

Showalter said chemistry will be a major issue for the team.

"We're going to be putting in more of our system with our presses, with our offense and then having the guys getting used to playing with each other. That's really big for us, because we don't have a long time to prepare for the FIBA U17 World Championship. So the more time we spend together on the court, the better we're going to be."

The United States are the two-time defending undefeated U17 world champions from 2010 and 2012, heading to Dubai with a 16-0 all-time record.

The Americans will face Greece, Angola and the Philippines in Group A.

Newman went into the tryouts and training camp, which started on July 24, rested after not being able to play at a couple of summer showcase events with a sprained hand, which has fully healed.

"It actually probably did him some good because he was out of playing some of the other tournaments before the training camp. So he'll be well rested and ready to go," Showalter said of one of his main leaders.

The coach also expects big things from Rabb and Giles.

"Ivan is one of the players who can just do a lot of different things with his size. Harry Giles will be at full strength. When Harry's at full strength, you're really going to see a tremendous athlete and player, a great kid who plays really hard," he said.

Showalter called newcomer Swanigan a "rebounding machine" and of Elleson, who was one of the final U16 cuts last summer, the coach said: "He was in our top 16 last year but this year he's slimmed down. He really runs the court well for a 6ft 9in (2.06m) player."

FIBA