June 18, 2006
Singler stands out at USA trials
From staff and wire reports
Reports out of San Antonio have South Medford High basketball standout Kyle Singler faring well at the USA U18 National Team Trials in San Antonio.
The 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward led all participants in scoring with 17 points on a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, including three 3-pointers, in Fridays nights session.
The buzz surrounding Singler kept up in Saturdays morning session, with the senior-to-be chipping in with six points on 2-for-6 shooting. He also had four rebounds, one steal and one
blocked shot in the session.
On Saturday night, Singler hit for 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting with four assists, two rebounds, two steals, one block and no turnovers.
A Rivals.com recap of the trials Saturday said Singler "continues to stand out as the most complete player on the court."
Overall, he ranks third in scoring after three sessions at 11 points per game. Taylor King leads at 14.7 points per session, with Michael Beasley second at 13.3.
Singler is one of 23 players trying out for the USA Basketball U18 squad that will compete in San Antonio at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Men on June 28-July 2.
Other qualified teams for the event are from Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Uruguay.
The tournament has been held every four years since 1990, with the USA mens teams going 25-1 in qualifiers and winning gold in the first three years. The USA team captured bronze most
recently in 2002.
Trials sessions began Friday night and continued with morning and evening sessions on Saturday. The final session runs today from 7-8:30 a.m. Pacific.
Sixteen finalists will be named following this mornings session, and will remain in San Antonio for the USAs training camp that runs through June 27.
The training camp will include two scrimmages against Brazil, and then the 12-member USA squad will compete in the FIBA championships under the guidance of University of Washington head coach
Lorenzo Romar. Assisting Romar are Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt and Depaul head coach Jerry Wainwright.
Singler, 18, is one of four invitees with prior USA Basketball experience. Last summer he helped lead the White team to a gold medal at the Youth Development Festival, averaging 14 points and 3.4
rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the floor and 47.1 percent from 3-point range.
Athlete selections for the USA Basketball Trials were made by the USA Basketball Mens Collegiate Committee, chaired by Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim.
Singler is coming off yet another unique experience after being one of 21 hand-picked players invited to participate in the Nike Skills Academy last weekend in Beaverton.
The camp consisted of 18 rising seniors and three juniors, and the players were put through a series of workout drills under the direction of former NBA All-Star point guard and head coach John
Lucas, former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, former Boston Celtics assistant coach John Carroll and ex-NBA player Craig Ehlo.
Former Washington State head coach Kevin Eastman, who is now Nikes national director of youth basketball, was the camp director.
Once again, Singler fared well against the nations elite, showing a deft shooting touch during drills and an eager-to-learn mentality during the three-day camp. He was dubbed the "most
impressive shooter, by far" by ESPN.com contributor Kieran Darcy.