University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Payton Part Of USA Basketball's "Team of the Year"
1/16/2014 3:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Team of the Year Video
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 16, 2014) - Capturing the FIBA U19 World Championship gold medal this past summer in Prague, Czech Republic, USA Basketball today named its 2013 USA Men's U19 World Championship Team as the 2013 USA Basketball Team of the Year.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns junior Elfrid Payton started all nine games for the squad, averaging 6.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.3 steals, shooting .575 from the field (23-40) and .900 from the line (9-10).
Utilizing its superior athleticism and depth, the USA forced the tempo and rode its defense to an unblemished 9-0 record. The finish was just the USA's third gold medal in the FIBA U19/Junior World Championship since 1991, but its second since 2009.
"I think one thing about this team was the style of play was totally different than what a lot of those teams did," said USA head coach Billy Donovan (University of Florida). "A lot of those teams were not pressing, they were in the half court. They were really good execution teams, and they were great 3-point shooting teams, so we thought going into it that we weren't going to be able to out-execute these other teams, especially with a limited amount of practice.
"What we needed to do was use our depth, and in every single game we used all twelve guys. We needed to press, try and create turnovers, get to the offensive glass, rebound and those kinds of things. Our guys, who were a joy to coach, had really good motors, good energy, and I think winning to them was most important."
The USA Basketball Board of Directors is responsible for selecting USA Basketball's annual coach, player and team of the year awards.
"The 2013 men's U19 team played with passion, composure and discipline, and USA Basketball is proud to recognize its accomplishments," said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball CEO/Executive Director. "Playing in a very challenging world championship, the players and the coaching staff quickly gelled into a team that demonstrated great sportsmanship, dedication and determination."Joining Payton on the 12-man USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team roster featured:Michael Frazier (University of Florida/Tampa, Fla.); Aaron Gordon(Arizona/San Jose, Calif.); Montrezl Harrell (University of Louisville/Tarboro, N.C.); Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young H.S./Chicago, Ill.); James Robinson (University of Pittsburgh/Mitchellville, Md.); Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State University/Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes(University of Tennessee/Memphis, Tenn.); Rasheed Sulaimon (Duke University/Houston, Texas); Mike Tobey(University of Virginia/Monroe, N.Y.);Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington/Happy Valley, Ore.); and Justise Winslow (St. Johns H.S./Houston, Texas). Jerami Grant (Syracuse University/Bowie, Md.) originally was selected to the USA U19 World Championship Team but was unable to compete after he was diagnosed with mononucleosis.
Donovan returned to coach the 2013 squad after qualifying the USA for the U19 World Championship by leading the U.S. to a 5-0 mark and the gold medal at the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. Also returning was assistant coach Shaka Smart (VCU), while former USAb Tony Bennett (University of Virginia) served as the other assistant coach.
