UCLA alum Travis Wear was a big part of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Summer League team that won the championship in Las Vegas. He was then brought on at the end of training camp so he could be assigned to the South Bay Lakers of the G-League.
Wear has continued his strong play there and now is being rewarded for it. USA Basketball announced its 12-man USA roster for the November first-round FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers and Wear was selected. Jeff Van Gundy, who is the head coach of the team, spoke about the roster and the challenge ahead of them in November:
“USA Basketball has put together a versatile roster that has a mix of youth and experience highlighted by our four returning players from this summer’s AmeriCup gold medal team,” said Van Gundy. “Puerto Rico and Mexico are outstanding teams that are extremely well coached, and we will have our hands full in our games against them. We are excited about the challenge, and I know we all have great pride in representing our country.”
Wear is a prototypical stretch-4 and with the shorter three-point line in international basketball, Wear could be a very valuable weapon. He averaged 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds for the Lakers in Summer League but has taken on a much larger role with the South Bay Lakers.
In four games in the G-League Wear is averaging 14.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while shooting 43.5 percent from three-point range.
The USA team will begin training camp on November 13 before playing the two first-round games, first against Puerto Rico on November 23, and then against Mexico on November 26.
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