The USA Men's Basketball U16 team narrowed down its squad to 12 members today. Of those 12, three have scholarship offers from Ohio State in 2016, and one is an OSU target in 2015.
King wearing red, white and blue. He'd look good in scarlet and gray, as well. V.J. King, a 6-foot-7 inch wing from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, is the lone member of the team representing the Buckeye state. The Big Ten is all over King, a member of the class of 2016. Outside of Oho State, he has offers from Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.
His fellow national team representatives and classmates with offers from OSU include Harry Giles (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Josh Jackson (Detroit). Giles was named the "National Freshman of the Year" by MaxPreps.
The Buckeyes are also chasing their teammate Ivan Rabb (Oakland, Calif.), a member of the class of 2015.
They'll travel to Uruguay for the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and compete against Uruguay, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Bahamas, Argentina and Chile.
The U16 American team has previously featured Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards, 2009), Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons, 2009), Quinn Cook (Duke, 2009), Jabari Parker (Duke, 2011) and 2014's number one recruit Jahlil Okafor (2011).
This year's team is lead by Don Showalter, who has been a part of the USA Men's Basketball program since 2009. He's been a successful high school coach in Iowa over the span of four decades. Eric Flannery, head coach at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, is on Showalter's staff.
