Southland Players Begin Quest For Spots on U.S. U19 Men's Basketball Team

LOS ANGELES, CA — Mater Dei High School center Bol Bol is among three players with ties to Orange and Los Angeles counties participating in the 2017 USA Basketball Men's U19 World Cup Team training camp, which began Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The 7-foot-1-inch Bol is six inches shorter than his late father Manute Bol, who shares the distinction with Gheorghe Muresan as the tallest player in NBA history.

The elder Bol died in 2010 at the age of 47 from acute kidney failure and complications from Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare skin disorder he was believed to have contracted during a trip to his native Sudan.

The younger Bol began playing for Mater Dei in January after transferring from Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park, Kansas, where he played the first two years of his high school career.

Bol averaged 16.5 points in 15 games for the Monarchs, who lost to Bishop Montgomery in the both the final of the Southern Section's Open Division playoffs March 4 and the regional final of the state tournament March 18.

Bol will be a senior at Mater Dei this fall. He is the only 7-footer in the training camp and one of five 17-year-olds.

The other players with Southland ties among the 27 participating in the training camp are De'Anthony Melton and Kris Wilkes.

Melton is a 6-foot-4-inch guard who averaged 8.3 points and 3.5 assists in 36 games for USC as a freshman during the 2016-17 season after setting the career scoring record at Crespi High in Encino.

Wilkes is a 6-foot-7-inch forward who will begin his career at UCLA this fall after being chosen the 2017 Mr. Basketball in Indiana and playing in the prestigious McDonald's All-American Game.

The team practiced once Sunday and is scheduled to practice twice Monday at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Following a morning practice Tuesday, the finalists for the team are expected to be announced. The finalists will remain in Colorado Springs and practice twice daily though June 25.

The 12-member team is expected to be announced Thursday. Players eligible for the team must be U.S. citizens born on or after Jan. 1, 1998.

The 2017 FIBA U19 World Cup for Men will be played July 1-9 in Cairo. The U.S. won the 2013 and 2015 tournaments.

The U.S. team will be coached by Kentucky coach John Calipari with Wake Forest coach Danny Manning and Colorado coach Tad Boyle serving as the assistants.

Manning and Boyle played at Kansas when Calipari was an assistant coach there.

"We're excited about the players who have accepted our invitation to attend the USA Men's U19 training camp," said Purdue coach Matt Painter, chair of the selection committee.

We have an outstanding group of players, some of whom have prior USA Basketball experience, some with outstanding collegiate experience and some of the best high school players in America. It will be very competitive in tryouts to make the 12-person U19 team."

— City News Service, photo via Pixabay