GB U20 Final 12 Set After Trying Prep Period

By Sam Neter on July 5, 2014

The final twelve players who will be suiting up for Doug Leichner’s Great Britain Under-20s at the Division A European Championships this summer have been selected, after a trying preparation period.

The team has battled player availability, injuries, and French air strikes causing them to miss preparation games, but finally have got a squad that has a big challenge ahead with an incredibly tough group at the Europeans in Crete.

Three holdovers from last year make the team; Jordan Spencer, Rowell Graham and Grant Mackay, while conversely two players make the final cut of a Euros squad for the first time in their career – Ipswich’s Luke Mascall-Wright and Manchester’s Connor Murtagh.

UC Irvine backcourt Luke Nelson and Alex Young will double up as GB’s starting backcourt, while Kavell Bigby-Williams and Ben Lawson will provide solid height in the front court.

Elliott Sentance has shown his fitness and makes the cut after missing a year due to injury, while Tamas Okros will see solid minutes at the 3.

The final welcome surprise sees Joe Junior Mvuezolo, an early cut from the England Under-18 squad, prove his talent as he makes the GB U20 roster and being a probable starter to boot!

GB U20 Final Roster 2014

Kavell Bigby Williams, 6’10, Forward, Lewisham Thunder, England
Rowell Graham, 6’5, Forward, Leeds Carnegie, England
Ben Lawson, 7’0, Forward, Western Kentucky, England
Grant Mackay, 6’7, Forward, St Anselm’s College, NH, Scotland
Luke Mascall Wright, 6’3 Guard, Ipswich Basketball, England
Connor Murtagh, 6’5, Guard, Manchester Magic, England
Joe Junior Mvuezolo, 6’4″, Guard, Barking Abbey, England
Luke Nelson, 6’3, Guard, UC Irvine, California England
Tamas Okros, 6’7, Forward, Bristol Flyers, England
Elliott Sentance, 6’5, Guard, Leicester Warriors, England
Jordan Spencer, 6’2 Point Guard, Augustana College, SD, England
Alex Young, 6’1, Guard, UC Irvine, California, England

The squad has gone 2-4 in their official preparation games that were played in France and Spain, picking up wins against a USA Select squad and Belarus. They had one final closed door scrimmage against England Under-18s on Saturday evening in Essex, winning all five periods of play (score being reset to zero after each period).

They’ve been battling multiple injuries, with Josh McSwiggan, who was one of their best performers on their European trip, Joe Lockwood, and Ben Mead being ruled out through injury.

Rowell Graham and Jordan Spencer continue to fight to get fit, missing extended periods of camp this week, as well as the scrimmage vs the Under-18s, but are expected to be healthy for the Euros.

Confusion on players’ naturalisation status has seen the team lose Lucas Stivrens, as both him and Alex Young were classed as naturalised. With FIBA rules allowing just one naturalised player per roster, Young got the nod ahead of Stivrens, who otherwise would’ve been in the squad.

The squad departs for the Europeans on Monday July 7th, flying to Crete where they face Latvia, Hungary, Greece and Lithuania in Group A, beginning on July 9th.

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