Initial Great Britain Under-20 Squad Named

By Sam Neter on June 22, 2018

FIBA

An initial list of sixteen players have been named to the preliminary Great Britain Under-20 men’s squad for the summer of 2018.

They will be guided by new Head Coach Marc Steutel, who returns to the GB U20 programme for the first time since 2013 when he was an assistant to Doug Leichner.

The team, made up of 1998 and 1999 born players, prepare for a venture in Division A after gaining promotion last summer with a third place finish in Romania. Angelico Biella’s Carl Wheatle and Peddie School’s RJ Eytle-Rock – who has committed to UMBC next season – will be the only two players returning to reap the fruits of their labour.

As has become a normality with the Under-20 age group, the majority of the players return after a year overseas with just four of the sixteen having played in the UK this season; and all four of those will depart for college careers in the US after the summer.

Kayne Henry-McCalla, Brian Amabilino-Perez, Caleb Fuller, Sesan Russell, Nelson Boachie-Yiadom and Romario Spence make the step-up from the Great Britain Under-18s last summer, whilst Sean Nealon-Lino – fresh off an appearance with the Senior Men at the Commonwealth games – is the sole Scottish representative.

“We are excited to see the final selection of players in camp and start working towards our goals,” Head Coach Marc Steutel said.

“The group consists of players who have represented national teams positively in the past and welcoming some newer players into this environment. Speaking with everyone of them to this point I am thrilled with the desire expressed by all players to represent their country to the best of their ability.

“This is highlighted none more-so than Carl Wheatle, who has been one of our best ever junior international players, and will be joining us after representing the seniors in the World Cup window. This level of pride and commitment from Carl will be contagious in the squad.

“I genuinely believe in the potential of British Basketball and understand how fortunate I am to be able to work with this talented group of players and staff. We can’t wait to get started now!”

Thirteen of the sixteen players have played in the Hoopsfix All-Star Classic.

Initial GB U20 Men’s Squad 2018

Dan Akin, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (US)
Adria Amabilino-Perez, The Hotchkiss School (US)
Brian Amabilino-Perez, Avon Old Farms (US)
Nelson Boachie-Yiadom, Loomis Chaffee (US)
Carl Campbell, The Phelps School (US)
RJ Eytle-Rock, Peddie School (US)
Caleb Fuller, Barking Abbey Crusaders
Kayne Henry-McCalla, San Jacinto Community College (US)
Sean Nealon-Lino, Barking Abbey Crusaders
Sesan Russell, Loughborough Student Riders
Romario Spence, Central Wyoming College (US)
Eisley Swaine, Bradford Dragons
Zion Tordoff, Casper Community College (US)
Jelani Watson-Gayle, Benedict College (US)
Evan Walshe, Barry University (US)
Carl Wheatle, Angelico Biella (Italy)

Head Coach: Marc Steutel
Assistant Coach: Lloyd Gardner
Assistant Coach: Josh Merrington
Sports Therapist: Tom Cresswell
Team Manager: Neil Rogers

EDITOR’S UPDATE: Eisley Swaine in place of Morgan Carter

GB head to Chemnitz, Germany, for their Division A campaign at the European Championships after gaining promotion last summer, and have been drawn in Group A alongside Turkey, Montenegro and Lithuania.

The European Championships get underway on July 14 with GB’s opening game against Turkey.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix