Purdue Hoops Stars Shine at FIBA U19 World Championships

The Purdue Boilermakers are expected to be one of the favorites to win the Big Ten Basketball championship this season, and three of the team’s biggest stars are getting a great experience this summer.

Zach Edey, Jaden Ivey, and Caleb Furst all competed in the FIBA U19 World Championships, and each player came away with a medal.

Ivey and Furst were selected to compete with Team USA at this event and Edey was a member of the Canadian team. Each player had some big moments to help their respective teams come home with some hardware.

Ivey was big in the gold medal game for Team USA, scoring 16 points to help his team capture the Gold Medal with an 83-81 victory over France. Team USA actually trailed by three points late in the game before Ivey helped spark a comeback in the two-point win.

Last season, Ivey was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman team, and he was named to the All-Star team at this event. Chet Holmgren, the future star at Gonzaga University was named MVP of the event.

Ivey was joined on the All-Star team by his teammate, Zach Edey. Edey was arguably the most impressive player during this entire tournament as he registered six double-doubles in just seven games.

The play of Edey helped push Canada to a victory in the third place game to come away with a Bronze medal. Edey will be a big factor for Purdue University next season as they aim to improve on a First Round exit from the NCAA Tournament.

Furst played sparingly for Team USA in this event, but he should be a big factor on the Purdue squad next season.

Struggles For Team USA

While the teenage stars from the United States were able to shine in this competition, the same can’t be said for the professionals preparing for the Olympics. Team USA has now suffered back-to-back exhibition losses and the team has lost four of its last five games overall.

The United States is still the betting favorite to win the Gold Medal at the Olympics, but things will need to turn around in a hurry. Several of the biggest stars from the NBA have chosen to skip the Olympics, but Team USA still has enough talent to win games.

The first loss came against Nigeria, and that has to be considered one of the biggest upsets in international basketball competition. Nigeria is a team with a handful of NBA players on the roster, but that was supposed to be a 30-point win for Team USA.

On Monday night, the United States suffered a loss to Australia in a game that was controlled by the Boomers. Australia is expected to be a threat to win the Gold Medal at the Summer Olympics, and they proved that they weren’t afraid of the US team.

With the Olympics set to begin in just a few weeks, Gregg Popovich will have to get his squad improved and ready to take on the best teams from around the world.

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