Photo courtesy of USA Basketball
Austin Wiley
Austin Wiley made the USA U17 World Championship Team.
Spain Park's Austin Wiley made the final 12.
USA Basketball announced the final 12-man roster for the U17 World Championship Team on Tuesday, and Wiley made the cut. Through a training camp that started with 39 campers and was whittled down to 18, Wiley advanced through both rounds of cuts to earn a spot on the men's national team.
The U17 team will compete in the 2016 FIBA Men's U17 World Championship from June 23-July 3 in Zaragoza, Spain. The training camp was held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where it will continue through Friday.
Wiley is on a team with six players that competed with the U16 team last year that won the gold medal, and the group will once again be coached by seven-time USA Basketball gold medalist Don Showalter.
"We always look for guys who are versatile and can play multiple positions and I think we have that,” said Showalter in a press release. “I like our size, and when you go play international at this level, you are going to play against bigger bodies. I also think we have a good mix of shooters and slashers."
Showalter mentioned that Wiley has "improved a lot" and made the team, despite being in a group of numerous high-caliber players.
“I’ve been involved since 2009, and this may have been one of the toughest years we’ve had, because these kids competed so hard. There wasn’t one player that checked out going into the last practice. I think all 18 guys had a legitimate chance of making this team, which made this so hard," Showalter said.
Wiley is the only player from the state of Alabama represented on the team, and the rising senior is committed to Auburn University.
