The 2024 USA Basketball Men’s U17 National Team is set to compete at the FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup in Turkey June 29 to July 7. This will be USA’s seventh appearance at the event since its inception in 2010, winning all the gold medals.

The USA U17 team enters with a perfect 44-0 record in the tournament, winning 21 straight games by double-digits. In fact, 43 of their 44 games all-time at the event have been decided by 10 points or more.

USA will compete in Group B alongside China, France and Guinea. They currently hold a 4-0 record against China at the event, scoring at least 113 points in each matchup, winning each of the games by 29 points or more. They’ve matched up against France twice at the event, winning both by at least 36 points. Their game against Guinea will mark their first face-off in the tournament’s history.

USA Basketball’s dominance at the event extends beyond gold medals; they have led in points and rebounds at every event since 2010. Additionally, they have topped the tournament in assists every year except 2012.

From a scoring standpoint, USA Basketball has averaged 104 points per game at the U17 World Cup, scoring 100 or more points in 25 of 44 games played. Their lowest point total all-time at the event is 79, meaning they’ve scored 80 or more points in all games but one.

On the defensive side of the ball, they’re just as good. USA Basketball has held opponents under 70 points in 29 of 44 games. That’s 66 percent of their games holding opponents under 70 points in a single game.

And back to the double-digit wins. 39 of USA’s 44 games have been decided by 20 points or more. 31 has been decided by 30 more points or more, and 21 have been decided by 40 or more points. On average, the U17 team is winning games by an average of 40.7 points per game.

This year’s roster includes seasoned players like Cameron Boozer, Cayden Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, Caleb Holt, JJ Mandaquit, Brandon McCoy, Koa Peat, and Tyran Stokes—all of whom helped the USA U16 team win the 2023 FIBA Men’s U16 Americas Championship gold medal. Cameron Boozer was named MVP of the competition, and led the team in scoring, while his brother Cayden topped the team in assists and Koa Peat led the team in rebounds.

Only Bradley Beal and Malik Newman have achieved MVP honors at both the U16 and U17 levels. Cameron Boozer has the opportunity to join this elite group if he can help USA reclaim the MVP status that eluded them in 2022, when Spain’s Izan Almansa broke the American stranglehold on the award. It was the first time since the inception of the event in 2010 that a non-USA Basketball player won the award.

Leading the charge for the second time is head coach Sharman White, who succeeded Don Showalter, the architect of five consecutive U17 gold medals. White, already a part of three other gold medal-winning USA Basketball teams, has previously coached eight of the athletes on the current roster at the 2023 FIBA U16 Men’s AmeriCup.

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