Tide's Green Begins USA U-18 Trials on Tuesday
6/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 30, 2008
TUSCALOOSA - JaMychal Green finished his first semester of college on Monday morning and will leave at 3 a.m. Tuesday to catch a flight to Washington, D.C. It's a big summer for the University of Alabama's big freshman, 6-foot-9 forward JaMychal Green.
Green, the 2008 "Mr. Basketball" in the state of Alabama and a McDonald's All-America, is one of 20 of the nation's top 18-and-younger basketball players who will be in Washington, D.C., July 1-3 competing at the 2008 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team Trials. The Trials are held at the Verizon Center. Green is competing for one of the 12 roster spots on the USA's team.
"I'm excited," said the Montgomery native and St. Jude graduate on Monday evening after he finished a workout at the Crimson Tide's athletic complex and prepared to go to his apartment to pack for what he hopes will be a trip of several weeks. "I never in my life would have thought I'd be going to try out for my country. It's big for me and to my family. It's such an honor, and it's important to me to go and represent my family and Alabama well."
Green and his fellow freshman Tide basketball player and roommate, guard Andrew Steele, both high school honor students, both enrolled in first semester summer school classes at Alabama to get a jump on school and conditioning. Green says he has been gearing his conditioning toward this week's Trials and, hopefully, the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in July.
"We've been working out since we got here," said Green. "Some mornings we'll even get up early and workout in the mornings and then late at night we'll go get some shots up. I'm going to the Trials with the intent to make the team and go to Argentina. I know the other players there are planning to do the same, so I know I'll need to work hard to make it happen."
The finalists for the 12-member USA roster will be selected following the Trials. Those selected remain for training camp which will be July 4-10. The Championship is July 14-18 in Formosa, Argentina. The participants in the Trials include Malcom Lee of John W. North High School in Riverside, Calif., who was on the USA's World Select Team in April as well as Leslie McDonald (Briarcrest High School/Memphis, Tenn.), Reeves Nelson (Modesto, Christian High School/Modesto, Calif.), Travis Releford (Bishop Miege High School/Shawnee Mission, Kansas), Lance Stephenson (Lincoln High School/Brooklyn, N.Y.), Kenny Boynton (American Heritage H.S. / Plantation, FL); Dominic Cheek (St. Anthony H.S. / Jersey City, NJ); JaMychal Green (St. Jude H.S. / Montgomery, AL); Kenny Hall (Redan H.S. / Stone Mountain, GA); Matt Humphrey (Hales Franciscian H.S. / Chicago, IL); Ryan Kelly (Revenscroft H.S. / Raleigh, NC); Sylven Landesberg (Holy Cross H.S. / Flushing, NY); Mason Plumlee (Christ H.S. / Arden, NC); Ari Stewart (Wheeler H.S. / Marietta, GA); Hollis Thompson (Loyola H.S. / Los Angeles, CA); Kemba Walker (Rice H.S. / New York, N.Y.); Maalik Wayns (Roman Catholic H.S. / Philadelphia, PA); David Wear (Mater Dei H.S. / Santa Ana, CA); Travis Wear (Mater Dei H.S. / Santa Ana, CA) and Wesley Witherspoon (Berkman H.S. / Lilburn, GA).
