COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—University of Pittsburgh freshman James Robinson (Mitchellville, Md./DeMatha Catholic H.S.) is one of 24 athletes invited to take part in the USA Basketball 2013 Men’s Under-19 National Team Training Camp. The camp will run from June 14-19 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Following the first three or four days of training camp, finalists for the team will be selected by the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee. The official 12-member USA team will then train for three days from June 20-22 in Washington, D.C., prior to departing for the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, which will be played June 27-July 7 in Prague, Czech Republic. Florida’s Billy Donovan will serve as head coach for the squad, while Virginia’s Tony Bennett and VCU’s Shaka Smart are the assistant coaches.
Last summer, Robinson was selected to play on the same USA National Team that captured the FIBA Americas Under-18 championship with a perfect 5-0 record at Sao Sebastiao de Paraiso, Brazil. Robinson led the Americans in assist:turnover ratio (6.00), totaled 12 assists and averaged 4.4 points and 15.6 minutes in the five games. Team USA averaged 97.2 points per game and outscored its opponents by an average 38.6 points per game. Robinson also represented Team USA in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit game held in Portland, Oregon on April 7, 2012.
In March, Robinson completed his freshman season at Pitt. In 32 starts and 33 games played, Robinson ranked No. 9 nationally and led the Big East Conference in assist:turnover ratio (2.83), ranked second on the team in assists (116) and third in minutes played (879). He also averaged 6.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, shot 79.2 percent (61-77) from the free throw line and reached double figure scoring in seven games on the year. As the winner of the team’s Best Defensive Player award, Robinson rated among school freshman season leaders in several categories: assist:turnover ratio (1st), games started (3rd), free throw percentage (4th), assists (4th), assists average (3rd) and steals (8th).