PRAGUE, Czech Republic—USA Basketball announced Tuesday that University of Pittsburgh freshman James Robinson (Mitchellville, Md./DeMatha Catholic H.S.) has been selected to complete its Men’s U19 National Team roster. Beginning this week (June 27-July 5), Team USA will compete in the FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Prague, Czech Republic. USA is currently in Prague and Robinson will join the team on Thursday for its opening round game against Ivory Coast (8:15 p.m. Prague time).
Robinson replaces Syracuse’s Jerami Grant, who is unable to participate after it was learned that he has been diagnosed with mononucleosis (mono).
The FIBA U19 World Championship will feature 16 national teams from around the world. Team USA was placed into Group D along with China, Ivory Coast and Russia. In the preliminary round, Team USA will open against Ivory Coast on Thursday, then play China on Friday, June 28 and Russia on Saturday, June 29. The second round of the tournament is scheduled for July 1-3, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and the gold medal game (July 7).
This will be Robinson’s third stint with the USA National Team as last summer he was selected to play on the American squad 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 of 38.6 points per game. Robinson also represented Team USA in the 2012 Nike Hoop Summit game held in Portland, Ore. 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. 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).
The 12-member USA National Team is comprised of Michael Frazier (University of Florida/Tampa, Fla.); Aaron Gordon (Archbishop Mitty H.S./San Jose, Calif.); Montrezl Harrell (University of Louisville/Tarboro, N.C.); Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young H.S./Chicago, Ill.); Elfrid Payton (University of Louisiana at Lafayette/Gretna, La.); Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State University/Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes (University of Tennessee/Memphis, Tenn.); Rasheed Sulaimon (Duke University/Houston, Texas); Mike Tobey (University of Virginia/Monroe, N.Y.); Nigel Williams-Goss (Findlay Prep/Happy Valley, Ore.); and Justise Winslow (St. Johns H.S./Houston, Texas). Florida’s Billy Donovan is serving as head coach of the squad while Virginia’s Tony Bennett and VCU’s Shaka Smart are the assistant coaches.
USA’S 2013 FIBA U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Date Matchup Site Time (Czech Time)
Thursday, June 27 Ivory Coast O2 Arena 8:15 p.m.
Friday, June 28 China O2 Arena 8:15 p.m.
Saturday, June 29 Russia O2 Arena 8:15 p.m.
Mon.-Wed., July 1-3 Second Round TBA TBA
Friday, July 5 Quarterfinals O2 Arena TBA
Saturday, July 6 Semifinals O2 Arena TBA
Sunday, July 7 Gold Medal Game O2 Arena TBA
Group A: Canada, Croatia, South Korea and Spain
Group B: Argentina, Czech Republic, Iran and Lithuania
Group C: Australia, Brazil, Senegal and Serbia
Group D: China, Ivory Coast, Russia, United States