Wisconsin Herd guard Xavier Munford was named to the 12-man USA roster for the November first-round FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers. Munford is one of four returning members from the gold medal winning 2017 USA Basketball AmericCup Team.
“This is a well-deserved honor for Xavier; he is playing at an extremely high level and we look forward to watching him represent our country,” said Herd General Manager Dave Dean.
Munford is joined by 2017 USA Basketball AmeriCup teammates Larry Drew II (Sioux Falls Skyforce), Reggie Hearn (Reno Bighorns) and AmeriCup MVP Jameel Warney (Texas Legends). Rounding out the USA roster are Markel Brown (Oklahoma City Blue), Semaj Christon (free agent), Jarell Eddie (Windy City Bulls), Amile Jefferson (Iowa Wolves), Kennedy Meeks (Raptors 905), Elijah Millsap (Iowa Wolves), Donald Sloan (Texas Legends) and Travis Wear (South Bay Lakers). The team was selected by the USA Basketball World Cup Qualification Committee.
Former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy, who led the USA to a 5-0 record and the gold medal at the Aug. 25-Sept. 3 FIBA AmeriCup Championship, will serve as head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team.
The USA will open training on Nov. 17 in Greensboro, N.C. The team will play two first-round games, the first versus Puerto Rico on Nov. 23 (6:30 p.m. CT) at the University of Central Florida’s CFE Arena in Orlando and the second on Nov. 26 (4 p.m. CT) versus Mexico at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex Fieldhouse.
Following the November games, additional first-round World Cup Qualifying game windows are Feb. 22-26, 2018 and June 28-July 2, 2018. The FIBA World Cup Qualifying games will qualify 31 of the 32 nations that will compete in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The FIBA World Cup for Men 2019 will be held Aug. 31-Sept. 15 in China.