Brandon McCoy makes USA Basketball U19 team

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Sam Morris

Members of the media and the USA Olympic basketball team take over UNLV’s Mendenhall Center Friday, July 6, 2012.

Thu, Jun 22, 2017 (11:54 a.m.)

UNLV freshman Brandon McCoy has been selected to play for the USA Basketball Under-19 team in next month’s FIBA World Cup.

McCoy, a 7-foot center, was one of 12 players to make the cut. USA Basketball invited 27 players to its training facility in Colorado Springs for a series of tryouts over the past week, and on Thursday McCoy got the good news that he will travel with the team to Cairo, Egypt, to compete in the FIBA tournament:

Though his USA commitment will take McCoy away from the Rebels from July 1-9, UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said he was happy to see his young star make the team.

“It is exciting to have one of our young Rebels representing us in the World Championships,” Menzies said via a university release. “We will be watching and pulling for USA to win it all.”

McCoy won’t be working out out with the Rebels while he travels with Team USA, but he’ll still be benefitting from key developmental experience. The red, white and blue roster is stacked with heralded players like Kentucky sophomore Hamidou Diallo, Oregon sophomore Payton Pritchard and five-star Kentucky freshman P.J. Washington, so practices should be intense. And the competition level at the FIBA World Cup should be high.

Team USA will be helmed by Kentucky coach John Calipari, so McCoy will also get a taste of operating in a demanding college system.

The exposure with Team USA should only raise McCoy’s profile with the Rebels. After averaging 29 points and 13 rebounds at Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, Calif.) last year, the highly touted recruit is being counted on to help turn around the UNLV program.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.

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