Temple signee Lavoy Allen has accepted an invitation to try out for the USA Under-19 National Team, which will participate in the FIBA World Championship in July. The 6-9 forward will travel to Dallas for a three-day camp in late June, and if he makes the cut, he’ll be on his way to Serbia.Allen is one of eight high schoolers selected to participate in the tryout camp, which will be held at the Dallas Mavericks practice facility in American Airlines Arena. Twenty players will be competing for 12 spots on the World Championship squad. Eligible participants were born on or after Jan. 1, 1988.
Allen had some help gaining his invitation, as Coach Fran Dunphy is one of the 10 members of the USA Basketball Men’s Collegiate Committee, which made the selections. The Under-19 team will be headed by DePaul Coach Jerry Wainwright, who will be assisted by Drexel’s Bruiser Flint and George Washington’s Karl Hobbs. It’s no coincidence that GW freshman Damian Hollis was another camp invitee.
The tryout camp is scheduled for June 28-30. From there, an undetermined number of participants will stay in Dallas to compete in the 2007 Global Games (July 1-7). The final cutdown to 12 players will take place no later than July 7.
The 2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship will be held in Novi Sad, Serbia on July 12-22. Team USA finished fifth in the 2003 event.
The last Temple player to wear the Stars and Stripes was Mardy Collins in the 2005 Under-21 World Championship.