Arizona guard Kylan Boswell made USA Basketball’s final U19 roster as expected Friday, and he just might get a chance to face a fellow Wildcat in the FIBA U19 World Cup later this month in Hungary.
Sophomore guard Filip Borovicanin is a strong candidate to make Serbia’s U19 team, which isn’t in USA’s pool but could face the Americans in the championship bracket.
“I don’t know if there’s many guys out in Serbia that are better than Filip in U19,” Boswell said. “I think he’s fine.”
USA is scheduled to begin U19 pool play on June 24 against Madagascar at 3:30 a.m. (Arizona time) in Debrecen, Hungary. The tournament will be played through July 2, after which Boswell will return to Arizona to prepare for the Wildcats’ expected trip to Israel and United Arab Emirates.
Arizona had three representatives in the last U19 World Cup, in 2021: Bennedict Mathurin (Canada), Oumar Ballo (Mali) and Azuolas Tubelis (Lithuania).
This year, USA kept Boswell and Villanova’s Mark Armstrong as its two primary point guards, while combo guard Dylan Harper was among four five-star class of 2024 players on the final roster. Serbia’s final roster has not been announced.
USA Basketball initially invited 30 players to camp last weekend, trimmed to 18 on Monday and to 14 on Wednesday. TCU center Ernest Udeh and incoming Tennessee guard Freddie Dilione were the two final cuts.
The other 10 players to make USA’s final roster included two who played college basketball last season, Tennessee forward Tobe Awaka and Vanderbilt center Ven-Allen Lubin, along with four incoming college freshmen: Colorado forward Cody Williams, Iowa State forward Omaha Biliew, Purdue guard Myles Colvin and Oklahoma State wing Eric Dailey Jr.
In addition to Harper, forward Asa Newell and guards Ian Jackson and Tre Johnson also made the team out of the 2024 class.