The FIBA u18 AmeriCup (formerly known as the Americas Championship) kicks off on June 3rd through June 9th in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s the first time Argentina has hosted the event since 2008, the year they last won a gold medal.

In 2008, Argentina clinched the gold by defeating the USA 77-64, marking their lowest point total for Team USA in the Americas Championship and their sole loss since the tournament transitioned to the under-18 format in 2006.

Since that decisive match, Team USA has secured an interrupted six gold medals with only one of those championship games decided by a single-digit margin.

As we inch closer to the next edition of the AmeriCup/Americas Championship, here are a few things to look out for as Team USA aims for their 8th gold medal in the last nine u18 events.

History

In total, Team USA has won 10 of 12 FIBA Americas Championship gold medals since the event was introduced back in 1990. In the two instances when America fell short of securing a gold medal, they claimed a bronze in 2002 and silver in 2006.

USA has a total record of 65-2 at the event with their only losses coming at the hands of the aforementioned Argentina in 2006, and Venezuela in 2002.

Their 10 gold medals are the most of any participating nation, and no other participating teams have won more than one gold medal.

Scoring

Team USA has not had a problem scoring the ball against international competition. Their under-18 team has consistently surpassed the 90-point mark, achieving this feat in 13 consecutive games. The last instance where they fell short of this mark was in July 2016 against Brazil, where they scored 88 points in a commanding 40-point victory.

Over the last 8 tournaments, Team USA’s u18 team has played in 41 contests, exceeding 90 points in all but 10 games.

Individually, players have also found their scoring groove. Since the event switched formats, Team USA has seen 22 instances of their player scoring 20 or more points in a game. Notably, 10 of these occurred in the last two events, while the other 12 were spread across the six tournaments from 2006 to 2016.

Among these instances are three games where two players each scored 20 points in the same contest—a feat never seen before 2018 under the u18 format.

Date	Players – Pts	Round
June 12, 2022	Cam Whitmore (30) & Kel’el Ware (21)	Final
June 7, 2022	Jared McCain (22) & Gregory Jackson (20)	Group Phase
June 15, 2018	Quentin Grimes (26) & Alec White (25)	Semifinal

Defense

Defensively, Team USA’s u18 team has held opponents under 65 points in six straight games, their longest such streak since the tournaments inception. The only other time Team USA held opponents under 65 points in at least five straight games spanned the 2012 and 2014 tournaments.

Since 2006, Team USA has held opponents to an average of 62.8 points per game while scoring around 103.2 points per game, resulting in an average margin of victory of 40.4 points per game.

In fact, Team USA has won 27 straight games at the event by double-digits. Since the beginning of the 2012 edition of the tournament, no team has finished within single digits of the Americans. Of their 40 wins so far since 2006, only two have been decided by single digits.

Bracket

In Group B, Team USA is joined by Argentina, Belize and Brazil. Their historical record combined against this group is 22-1.

Team USA is 12-1 all-time against Argentina at the event. Since their 2006 loss to the country, America has defeated them by double-digits in all five matchups since.

On June 4, 2024, they will meet Belize for the first time ever at the event. This is Belize’s first ever appearance at the tournament after qualifying with a Bronze medal at the FIBA Centrobasket U17 Championship.

Team USA is 10-0 all-time against Brazil at the event, winning their last two matchups against them by 40 or more points. But, Brazil is the only country, apart from Argentina, to come within three points of the u18 team since the format changed in 2006, narrowly losing 81-78 in the 2010 gold medal game.

Coaching

The u18 team will be led by Tommy Lloyd, recipient of the 2021-22 AP Coach of the Year award, and current head basketball coach of Arizona.

Since he took over the program in 2021-22, the Wildcats have won at least 27 games in three straight seasons, and his 61 wins over his first two seasons tied an NCAA D-I record (Brad Underwood – Stephen F. Austin). His 88 overall wins are third most of any D-I coach through their first three seasons in NCAA history.

Grant McCasland and Micah Shrewsberry will be the assistant coaches. McCasland, concluding his first season at Texas Tech in 2022-23, secured 23 wins, becoming only the third coach in program history to achieve 20-plus victories in their inaugural season.

Shrewsberry, now at Notre Dame, has coached three seasons at the D-I level with his first two coming at Penn State. He has won a total of 50 games in his first three seasons.

Roster

The 12-man roster has been released, marking the national team debuts for all selected players with USA basketball.

Position	Name	Age
G	Darius Acuff Jr.	17
G/F	Nate Ament	17
G	Mikel Brown Jr.	18
G	Jeremiah Fears	17
F	Shelton Henderson	17
C	Daniel Jacobsen	18
G	Jasper Johnson	18
C	Morez Johnson Jr.	18
F	Nikolas Khamenia	17
F	Trey McKenney	17
C	Patrick Ngongba II	18
F	Derrion Reid	17

Among the 12 prospects representing Team USA in Argentina, five are currently committed to Division I basketball programs. Jeremiah Fears and Morez Johnson Jr. are committed to Illinois, Daniel Jacobsen pledged to Purdue, while Patrick Ngongba II is set to attend Duke, and Derrion Reid is headed to Alabama.

Notably, the roster is made up of seven 17-year old players (age as of May 28, 2024), marking the highest number of players aged 17 or younger on a single roster for the Americans at this event, surpassing the 2006 and 2002 rosters, which each featured six players 17 or younger.

Furthermore, with only five players aged 18, this represents the smallest contingent of 18-year or older players America has brought into the competition since its inception in 1990.

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