USA Basketball announces roster for July men's World Cup qualifiers at Dominican Republic and Mexico

Audio By Carbonatix

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Jay Huff, who appeared in all 82 games this past season for the Indiana Pacers, and longtime overseas standout Mike James are among the 12 players announced Tuesday by USA Basketball as members of its World Cup qualifying team for games in early July.

The team will gather in Miami later this week for training camp, before playing at the Dominican Republic on July 3 and then visiting Mexico on July 6.

Along with Huff and James, others on the U.S. roster include Pedro Bradshaw, Jacob Gilyard, Kevon Harris, Dewan Hernandez, Elijah Pemberton, Orlando Robinson, Matt Ryan, Terry Taylor, Jarrod Uthoff and Gabe York.

Taylor played in the most recent qualifying window in February, when the U.S. went 1-1 against the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Bradshaw played in the opening qualifying window for this World Cup in November, helping the Americans get two wins over Nicaragua.

Hernandez, Huff, Pemberton and Ryan have played in qualifying games before; Pemberton was part of the team that finished third at the 2022 AmeriCup. Gilyard, Harris, James, Robinson, Uthoff and York will compete with USA Basketball for the first time.

Former NBA head coach Stephen Silas returns to coach the team for the third consecutive qualifying window.

The U.S. is one of 80 teams competing for 32 spots in the field for the 2027 FIBA Men’s World Cup in Doha, Qatar. In the FIBA Americas region, 16 teams are trying to get one of seven available berths in the World Cup field.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports