Mitchell Finalist For U19 World Championships
Courtesy: University of North Texas
Release: 06/20/2011



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - North Texas forward Tony Mitchell is one step away from representing the United States at the U19 World Championships. After four training sessions, the Dallas native was named one of 13 finalists for the travel roster of 12, which is expected to be finalized this week.

"I think our inside players are tremendous. We have some good balance and some guys that can shoot the basketball. Obviously, it was a hard decision to come down to 13, and we still have to make one more decision before we go overseas," said head coach Paul Hewitt (also the head coach at George Mason) in a release from USA Basketball.

Mitchell is one of five finalists with prior USA Basketball experience. He averaged 8.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last summer in helping the 2010 USA U18 National Team capture the gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in San Antonio, Texas.

Aside from Mitchell, the following players were named finalists for the USA U19 World Championship squad: Keith Appling (Michigan State/Detroit, Mich.); James Bell (Villanova/Orlando, Fla.); Anthony Brown (Stanford/Huntington Beach, Calif.); Jahii Carson (Mesa High School/*Arizona State/Phoenix, Ariz.); Tim Hardaway, Jr. (Michigan/Miami, Fla.); Joe Jackson (Memphis/Memphis, Tenn.); Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut/ Norcross, Ga.); Meyers Leonard (Illinois/Robinson, Ill.); Khyle Marshall (Butler/Davie, Fla.); Javon McCrea (Buffalo/Newark, N.Y.); Doug McDermott (Creighton/Ames, Iowa); and Patric Young (Florida/Jacksonville, Fla.).

Sixteen nations will battle for the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship title June 30-July 10 in Latvia. The United States has been placed in Group D, along with China, Egypt and Serbia.

The U.S. squad's preliminary round slate opens with a June 30 contest against Egypt, followed by Serbia on July 1, and the USA squad will conclude preliminary play July 2 versus China.

USA men's teams are 62-11 in the U19/Junior World Championships, and have won four gold and three silver medals, most recently earning the gold medal for the first time since 1991 with a 9-0 record in 2009.

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