Rising Villanova Sophmore, James Bell, has been named to the USA U-19 Basketball Team. The squad will be heading to Latvia to compete in the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men being held June 30-July 10.
The United States is the defending gold medal winner of the U19 World Championships and is coached by former Villanova assistant and current George Mason head coach, Paul Hewitt.
"It's an honor to be able to represent my country," stated Bell on Thursday. "I feel fortunate to have this opportunity again and I just wanted to come here and play as hard as I could. This year I was able play my best and being healthy is the best blessing you could have.
"You can say that having been through this last year helped me. It gave me an idea of what to expect and it never hurts to have that. It also gave me motivation - I knew that I wasn't able to play at full strength last year and was really looking forward to competing this time around."
Last Sunday, CBS writer Jeff Goodman noted that the 12th and final spot for the squad would be between Bell and Michigan St's Keith Appling. Reports from Colorado Springs note that the Villanovan came on strong in the final 5 days of camp to earn the opportunity to represent his country.
Roster
Keith Appling, Michigan State, Detroit, MI
James Bell, Villanova, Orlando, FL
Anthony Brown, Stanford, Huntington Beach, FL
Jahii Carson, Mesa H.S./*Arizona State, Phoenix, AZ
Tim Hardaway, Jr., Michigan, Miami, FL
Joe Jackson, Memphis, Memphis, TN
Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut, Norcross, GA
Meyers Leonard, Illinois, Robinson, IL
Khyle Marshall, Butler, Davie, FL
Doug McDermott, Creighton, Ames, IA
Tony Mitchell, North Texas, Dallas, TX
Patric Young, Florida, Jacksonville, FL
UPDATE (4:55pm): Nova Notebook: Bell Makes the Most of Second Chance to Represent USA