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Duke freshman Cooper Flagg is one of 15 American players selected to practice with the U.S. team in Las Vegas next week, a move that’s both an honor for him and a possible harbinger for his future with the national team.
Each summer when the U.S. men’s basketball team plays internationally, a “select” squad, usually made up of young NBA players, is selected to join the U.S. star squad at training camp. One or two of those players may then be promoted to the national team, as Keldon Johnson did for the 2021 Olympics.
Flagg, a 6-foot-9 forward and the leading candidate to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, will be among the players working out with LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and other key players aiming for Olympic gold in Paris this summer.
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The 17-year-old Flagg is the first collegiate athlete to play or train with the U.S. National Team since Doug McDermott and Marcus Smart attended a minicamp with NBA stars in Las Vegas in 2013. According to a news release announcing the latest U.S. National Team, six members of the current Olympic Team (Durant, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Jrue Holiday and Kawhi Leonard) have played for the National Team in the past, and 30 players who have played on the National Team have played for USA Basketball at a FIBA World Cup or Olympic Games.
According to USA Basketball, NBA players joining Flagg include Jalen Duren, Jamie Jaquez Jr., Brandon Miller, Trey Murphy, Keegan Murray, Brandin Podziemski, Payton Pritchard, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jabari Smith Jr., Jalen Suggs and Ament Thompson. Also on the selected team are USA Basketball veterans Langston Galloway, who served as a national team practice squad outside of training camp, Nigel Hayes-Davis, who plays overseas, and Micah Potter, who played last season with the Utah Jazz and in the G League.
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“As a former member of the U.S. National Team, I know how important and fun this opportunity is for our players,” Men’s National Team Managing Director Grant Hill said in a news release. Hill is a Duke University alumnus. “This National Team has an incredible pool of talent that will be tasked with the important task of helping the 2024 U.S. Men’s National Team begin its Olympic journey. Each of these players will play a role in our preparation as we develop our future national team pipeline.”
Five of those players — Duren, Pritchard, Murphy, Murray and Galloway — were on the Select Team that helped the U.S. prepare for the FIBA World Cup last season and will be coached by Orlando Magic coach Jamal Mosley for the second consecutive year.
Pritchard just won a championship with the Boston Celtics. Podziemski and Jackson-Davis play for national team coach Steve Kerr with Golden State. Jaquez plays for U.S. assistant coach Erik Spoelstra with the Miami Heat. Miller was the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Suggs plays for Mosley with the Magic.
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(Photo: Rob Kinnan/USA Today)
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