South Bay Lakers guard Joel Berry II was named to the 12-man Team USA roster for the second-round FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 America Qualifiers, which will take place later this month and early December. Kobe Bryant is serving as a global ambassador for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019.
The USA will train from Nov. 23-25 at the Houston Rockets’ practice facility and play second-round games on Thursday, Nov. 29, against Argentina in La Rioja, Argentina; and Sunday, Dec. 2, in a matchup with Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy, who has led the USA to a 7-1 record in FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifying games and guided Team USA to a 5-0 record and the gold medal at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup Championship, returns as head coach of USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team.
This past June, Alex Caruso was named to the USA roster for the FIBA World Cup Qualifying third-window games.
Berry is averaging 8.1 points and 2.3 assists through seven games of is first season with South Bay. He quickly signed with the Los Angeles Lakers after going undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Despite some of the disappointment that came with not being taken in the Draft, Berry was excited to be joining the organization. He had Rookie of the Year aspirations but was among the players waived by the Lakers before the regular season tipped off.
Berry won a National Championship with North Carolina in 2017 and was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.