Returning three players with previous USA World Cup Qualifying or AmeriCup Qualifying experience, and featuring 11 athletes possessing NBA regular season experience, USA Basketball today announced its 12-man roster for the February 2021 USA World Cup Qualifying Team.
Selected for the February 2021 USA World Cup Qualifying Team were Jordan Bell (Fort Wayne Mad Ants/Oregon), Tarik Black (Grand Rapids Gold/Kansas), Brian Bowen II (Iowa Wolves), Langston Galloway (College Park Skyhawks/Saint Joseph’s), Jared Harper (Birmingham Squadron/Auburn), Joe Johnson (Free Agent/Arkansas), Juwan Morgan (Maine Celtics/Indiana), Matt Ryan (Grand Rapids Gold/Chattanooga), David Stockton (Memphis Hustle/Gonzaga), Rayjon Tucker (Wisconsin Herd/Little Rock), Paul Watson (Free Agent/Fresno State) and Justin Wright-Foreman (Birmingham Squadro/Hofstra).
Former NBA head coach Jim Boylen , who directed the USA team during the November 2021 World Cup Qualifying games in Chihuahua, Mexico, will again serve as head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team. Also returning to the sidelines as assistant coaches are USA Basketball experienced coaches Ty Ellis and Othella Harrington.
The USA squad will open training camp February 18 in Washington, D.C., and will participate in the second competition window of 2021-23 FIBA World Cup Qualifying games that will see the Americans face Puerto Rico (1-1) on Feb. 24 and Mexico (2-0) on February 27. Both games will be played at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
Bowen, Johnson and Stockton return after playing with previous USA National Teams in FIBA World Cup or AmeriCup qualifying games. Bowen represented the USA in the 2021 November FIBA World Cup Qualifying games and averaged 10.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in two games.
Johnson suited up for the USA with the February 2021 USA Basketball Men’s AmeriCup Qualifying Team. He started in both games and helped the USA to wins over Bahamas (93-77) and Mexico (95-76) while averaging 11.0 points, a team-high 9.0 rebounds, a team-high 7.5 assists. Johnson was also a member of the bronze medalist 2006 USA World Cup Team.
Stockton was part of two USA World Cup Qualifying teams, the February 2018 and June/July 2018 U.S. squads, averaging 10.0 points and 3.0 assists.
While 11 of the USA athletes own prior G League experience, 11 also have NBA regular season experience, including Bell (161 games with Chicago, Golden State, Minnesota, Memphis and Washington), Black (220 games with Houston and Los Angeles Lakers), Bowen (12 games with Indiana), Galloway ( 452 games with Brooklyn, Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix and Sacramento), Harper (13 games with New Orleans, New York and Phoenix), Johnson (1,277 games with Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, Houston, Miami, Phoenix and Utah), Morgan (51 games with Toronto and Utah), Stockton (6 games with Sacramento and Utah), Tucker (37 games with Denver, Philadelphia and Utah), Watson (46 games with Atlanta, Oklahoma City and Toronto) and Wright-Foreman (4 games with Utah).
Additionally, Bell, as a member of Golden State Warriors, was part of the 2018 NBA Championship Team.
Five players also boast of professional playing experience overseas, including Black (Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, Israel and Zenit Saint Petersburg, Russia), Bowen (Sydney Kings-Australia), Stockton ( New Zealand Breakers, Australia; Cedevita, Croatia; Medi Bayreuth, Germany; and Mets de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico), Watson (BG Goettingen, Germany), Wright-Foreman ( Socar Petkimspor, Turkey; Chorale Roanne Basket, France).
