USA Basketball Announces Men's Youth Olympic Games Team

-- Inaugural Youth Olympic Games To Be Held August 14-26 in Singapore --

Sterling Gibbs was a member of the 2009 USA U16 Team that won gold and he'll be looking for a second gold medal at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games (Photo: Steven Maikoski / USA Basketball).

Colorado Springs, Colo. (June 24, 2010) -- 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.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.

Named to the USA squad were 6-11 centerK.C. Caudill (Brea Olinda H.S. / Brea, Calif.); 6-9 forwardAngelo Chol (Herbert Hoover H.S. / San Diego, Calif.); 6-1 guardSterling Gibbs (Seton Hall Prep / Scotch Plains, N.J.); and 6-2 guardL.J. Rose (Second Baptist School / Houston, Texas).

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.