65°F
weather icon Cloudy

Centennial’s Troy Brown, Findlay Prep’s Markus Howard make USA U17 team

Two local basketball players were selected to the USA Men’s U17 World Championship team on Tuesday.

Centennial’s Troy Brown and Findlay Prep’s Markus Howard made the 12-player squad after going through four training sessions and several cuts.

Howard, who reclassified to the Class of 2016 and has committed to Marquette, was on last year’s USA team that won gold in Bahia Blanca, Argentina. He averaged 15.0 points, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals in five games in the tournament.

Brown, ranked No. 28 on the ESPN 100 for the class of 2017, was a first-team all-state selection this season for the Bulldogs. He averaged 19.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists in leading Centennial to a Sunset Region runner-up finish.

Brown currently is undecided on his future, but has scholarship offers from several schools, including Arizona, Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, Louisville, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, UCLA and UNLV.

Bishop Gorman’s Charles O’Bannon, who was one of the 39 athletes selected to attend the USA training camp, was not selected but offered his support to the other locals on Twitter.

“I’m gonna need y’all to put on,” O’Bannon wrote to Brown and Howard. “Love y’all.”

O’Bannon averaged 21.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists for Gorman, the Division I state champs.

The USA training camp will continue through June 17 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The squad will attempt to defend its title at the U17 World Championship beginning June 23 in Zaragoza, Spain. The USA will open play June 23 against Taiwan and then plays Turkey the following day.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST