Three Iowa State basketball players, T.J. Otzelberger heading to Team USA U19 training camp
Four years ago, Iowa State sent its future NBA lottery pick to join Team USA’s bid for a FIBA U19 World Cup gold medal.
Now, the Cyclones are sending a trio of players and their head coach to help the Americans win the event for the third-straight time.
Incoming freshmen Omaha Biliew and Milan Momcilovic, Wofford transfer Jackson Paveletzke and coach T.J. Otzelberger will head to Colorado Springs this month for USA Basketball’s U19 training camp.
“It’s an awesome opportunity,” Otzelberger said last week at a Tailgate Tour stop in West Des Moines. It’s great to be able to be part of the organization, to represent our country − excited.”
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Training camp will begin June 11, with 35 players trying to make the 12-man roster that will compete for a gold medal in Hungary during the June 24-July 2 tournament.
Tyrese Haliburton was the last Cyclone to make the U19 roster. He went on to be an all-tournament team selection after helping Team USA win gold in 2019. A year later, he was the 12th overall selection in the NBA Draft. He was an All-Star selection this season.
It puts Biliew, Momcilovic and Paveletzke in good company, with some of the top returning sophomores in college basketball and elite prospects from the 2023 and 2024 classes earning invitations.
“Unbelievable to be able to play against the best players,” Otzelberger said, “and for those guys to have this on the front end of their college career before they come in for the summer is great.”
Biliew would seem to have the best chance of making the team as a McDonald’s All-American and a top-15 prospect in his class. The 6-foot-8 forward from Waukee averaged 22.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game for the Warriors as a senior.
Momcilovic and Paveletzke’s path to the roster potentially will rest on their ability to shoot the basketball.
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At 6-foot-8, Momcilovic was considered one of the best shooting big men in the Class of 2023. The Pewaukee, Wis., native and top-40 recruit turned down offers from the likes of UCLA, Louisville, Texas and Michigan State to join Otzelberger, a Milwaukee native, and the Cyclones.
Paveletzke, also a Wisconsin native, shot 39.3 percent from 3-point range and averaged 15 points per game as a freshman last season for Wofford. He committed to the Cyclones in April after entering the transfer portal.
How the trio fares in Colorado Springs will likely have an impact on how the Cyclones begin their summer preparation, both for the upcoming season and the foreign trip to the Bahamas the team will take in August.
“If any or all were to make the team ... we’d have to adjust how we do our summer program,” Otzelberger said, “but certainly an opportunity we’d want for them to pursue.
“We’ll adapt accordingly depending on how that all shakes down, but one way or another they’ll all be in by July 3. We still have a month as we get ready for the Bahamas. So we’ll still have ample time to get everybody integrated to how we’re doing things and get ready to go play those games.”
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Otzelberger, who credited his inclusion to Purdue coach and U19 selection committee chair Matt Painter, will not be making the trip to Hungary. His role in the process is limited to training camp as a “court coach” alongside Micah Shrewsberry (Notre Dame), Jonas Hayes (Georgia State) and Kevin Kruger, who was Otzelberger’s assistant at UNLV before getting the Runnin’ Rebels’ job after Otzelberger left for the Cyclones.
Tad Boyle (Colorado) is the team’s head coach with Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State) and Leon Rice (Boise State) on as assistants.
“It will be a good opportunity for me to see those (three Iowa State players) in that environment and be able to be a part of USA Basketball,” Otzelberger said. “And once you get invited as a court coach, as things move forward, there are opportunities to be an assistant coach taking a team overseas or potentially a head coach.”
Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 3 Iowa State basketball players try to make USA U19 World Cup roster
