Seen and heard at USA Basketball: On McCoy's experiences, the Miller(s) move to Texas and leafy greens

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Brandon McCoy already helped USA Basketball win two gold medals, including the U17 World Cup last summer, but he knows those carry little weight this week.

Bumped up to the U19 training camp this summer, the highly rated Los Angeles guard and UA recruiting target is one of only seven rising high school seniors to be named among the 18 finalists. Only one or two 2026 players appear likely to make the final 12-player roster that UA coach Tommy Lloyd will take to Switzerland for the FIBA U19 World Cup.

“I know I’ve got medals and I’ve been here but overall it’s still new — older players, different coaches, college coaches, people who are recruiting” players, McCoy said after finalists were named earlier this week. “This is a new experience for everybody but being in high school and playing for a college coach is definitely a great opportunity.”

Already, McCoy has attended six USA Basketball youth minicamps while making both of the national teams he tried out for: The U16 team that won the AmeriCup in 2023 in Mexico and the U17 team that won the World Cup last summer in Turkey.

The experience has made a significant impact, he said, especially in thinking the game through, moving off the ball and making better reads.

“USA (Basketball) has changed my whole basketball career,” McCoy said. “I’ve learned so many things, had so many great experiences. So being a finalist again for the third time just means a lot to me.”

Happy father’s days

Since starting his basketball career as an Arizona student manager in 2010, David Miller has often found himself moving wherever former Arizona coach Sean Miller goes.

But this time, there was a twist: When Sean Miller (no relation) left Xavier to take over at Texas this spring, David Miller and wife had just had a baby.

“To move with a three-month old is tough,” said David Miller, one of dozens of college coaches on hand for USA Basketball’s workouts this week. “My wife was stuck in Cincinnati for a month while we were dealing with the move, so that was hard. But Austin is just incredible and the university has so many resources. They take care of us.”

A Southern California native who also worked under former UA associate head coach Joe Pasternack at UC Santa Barbara, David Miller said he’s enjoying the chance to recruit the West Coast again much more than he did at Xavier.

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Meanwhile, he said he and Sean Miller love it at Texas so far. Even though Sean Miller drew some heat for leaving Xavier, which hired him in 2022, a year after Arizona fired him, David Miller said the resources and environment at Texas are hard to beat.

“If you take a step back, anyone would see, I mean, it’s Texas,” David Miller said. “That’s kind of all you need to say. Xavier’s special. They have their own huge advantages, and the people there are amazing. But it’s Texas.”

Moving on

The two Arizona recruiting targets who didn’t become finalists for the U19 roster will be popping up again soon.

In Cameron Holmes’ case, really soon. Holmes said before the decisions were made that he would rejoin his Goodyear Millennium team for the Section 7 event, a recruiting showcase of mostly western U.S. high schools that will be held in Mesa this weekend.

“If I don’t end up making this roster, even though that’s the goal, I get to go home, play Section 7 with my guys, and kind of recover for a little bit, chill out,” Holmes said.

“Then it’s right back to Peach Jam.”

That’s the prestigious club-ball event that will be held next month in South Carolina, where Ariza is planning to play for Southern California-based Team Why Not.

“I’m gonna be at Peach … I’m gonna be (at) all the camps, all the showcases,” Ariza said.

The big number

32 — Different types of leafy greens grown inside the USA Olympic and Paralympic Training Center’s dining room, served directly to athletes on demand.

Quotable

“We ain’t gonna win just by showing up.” — UA coach Tommy Lloyd, in a huddle to the U19 players participating in training camp this week.