After joining the Canadian senior team camp this month, Arizona's Bennedict Mathurin was not among the 12 players ultimately selectedΒ to play for Canada in an Olympic qualifying tournament that will start Tuesday in British Columbia.
Mathurin instead has joinedΒ Canada's junior national team in Europe to prepare for the U19 World Cup in Latvia from July 3-11, where he is expected to be one of the country's best U19 players.
Mathurin is one of four Wildcats who could be in the U19 World Cup, along with the Tubelis brothers (Lithuania) and Oumar Ballo (Mali). Former UA wing Tibet Gorener, now of San Jose State, will also be there playing for Turkey's U19 team.
Ballo has been named captain of Mali's U19 teamΒ and was named to the all-tournament team in a Menorca event.Β According to a translation of a Maliactu.net story, Ballo asked fans to "support us with blessings so that we can take the small step that we could not do during the last edition to bring the cup to Malian territory."
A transfer from Gonzaga who has enrolled at UA, Ballo led Mali to the championship game of the 2019 U19 World Cup before losing 93-79 to USA Basketball.
