By Kevin Sweeney
In the weeks post-NBA Draft, there isn’t that much pressing news in the college basketball landscape .There are a few names to watch still in the transfer portal, and soon enough we’ll hit International Trip Season. For now though, those of us wanting to get our hoops fix have to look for other options, and luckily the FIBA U19 World Cup provides us with a great way to spend 10 days. With over 50 current, incoming, and future D1 players including several elite prospects all playing, the event will provide perhaps the best look at players of all levels that we’ll get this summer.
After all, two years ago we got our first look at RJ Barrett, Lindell Wigginton, and the rest of a bright young crop of Canadians that stunned Team USA in the Gold Medal Game in Cairo. That tournament also saw the emergence of Rui Hachimura for Japan among its top performances.
I’ve done my best to compile the rosters of every guy of interest to college basketball fans playing in this year’s event. First, the active players and 2019 signees playing in the event:
| NAME | COUNTRY | COLLEGE | CLASS |
| Francisco Cáffaro | Argentina | Virginia | 2018 |
| Francisco Farabello | Argentina | TCU | 2019 |
| Kody Stattmann | Australia | Virginia | 2018 |
| Kyle Bowen | Australia | Saint Mary’s | 2019 |
| Alex Ducas | Australia | Saint Mary’s | 2019 |
| Tyler Robertson | Australia | Eastern Wash | 2019 |
| Isaiah Lee | Australia | UC Irvine | 2019 |
| Josh Kunen | Australia | San Francisco | 2019 |
| AJ Lawson | Canada | South Carolina | 2018 |
| Damion Squire | Canada | UC Davis | 2018 |
| Joel Brown | Canada | California | 2019 |
| Tyrese Samuel | Canada | Seton Hall | 2019 |
| Jahcobi Neath | Canada | Wake Forest | 2019 |
| Jaden Bediako | Canada | Santa Clara | 2019 |
| Michael Wang | China | Penn | 2018 |
| Joel Ayayi | France | Gonzaga | 2017 |
| Nicholas Evtimov | France | Western Carolina | 2019 |
| Rainer Hermanovskis | Latvia | William & Mary | 2019 |
| Martynas Arlauskas | Lithuania | Gonzaga | 2019 |
| Arnas Adomavicius | Lithuania | UNC-Greensboro | 2019 |
| Oumar Ballo | Mali | Gonzaga | 2019 |
| Karim Coulibaly | Mali | Pittsburgh | 2019 |
| Fousseyni Drame | Mali | Saint Peter’s | 2019 |
| Hassan Drame | Mali | Saint Peter’s | 2019 |
| Flynn Cameron | New Zealand | DePaul | 2018 |
| Kruz Perrott-Hunt | New Zealand | South Dakota | 2019 |
| Max De Geest | New Zealand | Long Beach St | 2019 |
| James Moors | New Zealand | Colorado State | 2019 |
| AJ Edu | Philippines | Toledo | 2018 |
| Giovanni Santiago | Puerto Rico | Kent State | 2019 |
| Jose Placer | Puerto Rico | North Florida | 2018 |
| Filip Petrusev | Serbia | Gonzaga | 2018 |
| Tyrese Haliburton | United States | Iowa State | 2018 |
| Isaac Likelele | United States | Oklahoma State | 2018 |
| Reggie Perry | United States | Mississippi State | 2018 |
| Kira Lewis | United States | Alabama | 2018 |
| Trevion Williams | United States | Purdue | 2018 |
| Jeremiah Robinson-Earl | United States | Villanova | 2019 |
A huge list, loaded with high-major players who will make a significant impact on the college basketball world this season. Seeing the four-man Gonzaga contingent of Petrusev, Arlauskas, Ayayi, and Ballo is exciting, especially given the amount of minutes the Bulldogs have to replace. A pair of potential breakout candidates from the defending national champions in Stattmann and Caffaro are also guys to be excited about. However, a pair of mid-major names from small countries I can’t wait to watch are Michael Wang (China, Penn) and AJ Edu (Toledo, Philippines). Both showed significant promise as freshmen, and now will be thrust into high-usage roles in this event.
I also compiled the 2020 recruits playing in the event from the USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Others will likely emerge as college-track options during this event, but as of now, these are the names to know:
| FUTURE RECRUIT | COUNTRY | 247 COMPOSITE | CLASS | COMMITMENT |
| Jalen Green | United States | 2 | 2020 | |
| Cade Cunningham | United States | 3 | 2020 | |
| Scottie Barnes | United States | 5 | 2020 | |
| Evan Mobley | United States | 1 | 2020 | |
| Jalen Suggs | United States | 12 | 2020 | |
| Ziaire Williams | United States | 8 | 2020 | |
| Josh Primo | Canada | 54 | 2021 | |
| Karim Mane | Canada | 124 | 2020 | |
| Charles Bediako | Canada | 90 | 2021 | |
| Keon Ambrose-Hylton | Canada | 80 | 2020 | |
| Matthew Alexander-Moncrieffe | Canada | 114 | 2020 | |
| Andre Curbelo | Puerto Rico | 59 | 2020 | |
| Victor Rosa | Puerto Rico | 187 | 2020 | |
| Dyondre Dominguez | Puerto Rico | 324 | 2020 | |
| Julian Strawther | Puerto Rico | 51 | 2020 | Gonzaga |
As if Gonzaga fans didn’t have enough reasons to tune into this one, 2020 commit Julian Strawther will suit up for Puerto Rico, moving the total of current and future Zags in Greece to 5. Major stock-riser Karim Mane of Canada will have my full attention after a strong spring, and should have the chance for big minutes on a team with questions at lead guard. Speaking of point guards, Andre Curbelo of Puerto Rico is one of the better ones in the 2020 class and will run the team for a young PR squad.
I’ll have plenty of notes from this entire event both on this site and on Twitter. Play gets underway on June 29 and runs through July 7, with all games streamed live on YouTube.com/FIBA.
This page will be updated with any late changes in roster information.
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