Four members of the 2009-10 USA Basketball Men's Developmental National
Team were selected to represent the U.S. at the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games. The 2010 Youth Olympic Games will feature
a 3-on-3 men's basketball competition Aug. 14-26 in Singapore that includes 20 nations, organized by the International Olympic
Committee and FIBA.
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Athletes
eligible for this competition must have been born between Jan. 1, 1993 and Dec. 31, 1994. The selections were made by USA
Basketball's Men's Developmental National Team Committee after five training sessions held June 18-20 at the University of
Texas at San Antonio.
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Named to the USA squad were 6-11 center K.C. Caudill (Brea Olinda H.S. / Brea, Calif.); 6-9 forward Angelo Chol (Herbert
Hoover H.S. / San Diego, Calif.); 6-1 guard Sterling Gibbs (Seton Hall Prep / Scotch Plains, N.J.); and 6-2 guard L.J. Rose
(Second Baptist School / Houston, Texas).
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Eric Flannery, head coach at St. Edward High School in Cleveland, Ohio, is head
mentor of the 2010 USA Basketball Men's Youth Olympic Games Team. Flannery is a long-time member of the USA Basketball
Developmental National Team Committee (2001-2012) who has compiled a 258-81 overall record (.761 winning percentage) in 14
seasons (1996-97 to present) with the St. Edward Eagles.
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"First of all I'm excited about the opportunity and I think we do have a great 3-on-3
basketball team. We've got two solid guards that I think are two guys who could have easily made the U17 team in Sterling
(Gibbs) and L.J. (Rose); we've got the combination of a versatile player in Angelo (Chol) who I think can play the perimeter
as well as inside and then we've got the big Caudill in the middle, a guy who I think can post people up and gives us an added
dimension for this unique experience. Because this is something different I think we have our bases covered. We have a good
group of versatile guys that I think can handle a lot of different situations," said Flannery.
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The USA
squad will reassemble for training in Springfield, Mass., Aug. 7-9. The U.S. has been placed in the Youth Olympic Games
preliminary round Group C and is joined by the Central African Republic, Israel, host Singapore, and Turkey. The USA
opens Aug. 15 versus Turkey, then meets Israel on Aug. 16, Singapore on Aug. 18, and closes out preliminary play facing the
Central African Republic. Quarterfinals get underway Aug. 21, with semifinals taking place Aug. 22 and the finals are Aug.23.
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The four
selected USA players for the USA Youth Olympic Games were part of the 22 member 2009-10 USA Basketball Developmental National
Team. Additionally, Gibbs and Rose were members of the 2009 USA U16 FIBA Americas Championship Team that went to Mendoza,
Argentina, and captured the gold medal, finished a perfect 5-0 and earned the U.S. its qualifying berth into the 2010 FIBA
U17 World Championship. Gibbs averaged 9.2 ppg., 2.8 apg. and 1.8 spg., while Rose posted 3.0 ppg. and 0.6 apg.
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The player
selections for the USA Youth Olympic Games Team was made by the USA Basketball Men's Developmental National Team Committee.
Chaired by USA Basketball Men's National Teams Director Sean Ford (non-voting chair), the committee features five voting members:
Ron Crawford, head of the Arkansas Wings AAU program and Boo Williams, head of the Boo Williams Summer League (Va.) were appointed
by the AAU; Flannery and John Olive, head coach at Torrey Pines High School (Calif.) were appointed by the National
Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS); while 1999 USA Pan American Games Team member Kermit Holmes serves as
the athlete representative.
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Youth Olympic Games
Scheduled to take
place every four years, the inaugural Youth Olympic Games men's and women's 3-on-3 basketball competition will feature a total
of 40 teams from 38 different countries.
At the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, 3-on-3 basketball
replaces traditional basketball and will be played on a half of a regular basketball court with one basket. Each team
will consist of four players (with three players on the court and one substitute). Each game will consist of three periods
of five minutes each, and the first team to score 33 points or lead the game after regulation game time is the winner.
The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games are expected to include as many as 5,000 athletes and officials participating
from 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), along with an estimated 1,200 media representatives, 20,000 local and international
volunteers and more than 500,000 spectators. Athletes 14 to 18 years old are eligible to compete in 26 sports and take part
in cultural and educational programs.
