Thirteen players were named Sunday as finalists for the 2011 USA World Championship under-19 basketball team.

The finalists were selected from among 20 players invited to the the USA U19 Team training camp, which began Friday in Colorado Springs. One more cut is scheduled Wednesday before the final 12-man roster is set. The team departs Friday for Europe.

The USA team will try to defend the gold medal it won in 2009 at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship, which runs June 30 to July 10 in Latvia.

The 13 finalists: Keith Appling (Michigan State); James Bell (Villanova); Anthony Brown (Stanford); Jahii Carson (incoming freshman at Arizona State); Tim Hardaway, Jr. (Michigan); Joe Jackson (Memphis); Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut); Meyers Leonard (Illinois); Khyle Marshall (Butler); Javon McCrea (Buffalo); Doug McDermott (Creighton); Tony Mitchell (North Texas); and Patric Young (Florida).

The NBA announced today which players earned invitations to sit in the green room during the upcoming draft. The list reflects a league-wide consensus about which players will be selected at the top of the draft. 

The league invited twelve college players -- Kyrie Irving (Duke), Derrick Williams (Arizona), Brandon Knight (Kentucky), Kemba Walker (UConn), Kawhi Leonard (San Diego State), Chris Singleton (Florida State) Klay Thompson (Washington State), Jimmer Fredette (BYU), Alec Burks (Colorado) as well as twins Marcus and Markieff Morris (Kansas).

Three international players -- Enes Kanter (Turkey), Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania) and Jan Vesely (Czech Republic) -- made the cut.

The most noteworthy absence from the list is Bismack Biyombo (Congo) who has been rumored to go as high as No. 5 to Toronto.

UConn has added the services of a high-scoring wing in the class of 2012.

Omar Calhoun, a 6-foot-3 guard from Christ the King in New York, verbally committed to UConn Friday.

Calhoun is ranked by both Rivals.com and Scout.com among the top 10 shooting guards in the class of 2012.

Calhoun’s father, also named Omar, said his son was anxious to play for a winning team in college and UConn’s recent title certainly helped it in his recruitment.

“Definitely one of the biggest factors was the national championship,” Omar Calhoun Sr. said by phone Friday morning.

DeAndre Daniels, a 6-foot-7 forward originally from Los Angeles, has committed to play for the Huskies in the upcoming season according to a number of people close to the situation.

Daniels attended IMG Basketball Academy in Florida last season. IMG actually announced the move with a press release, too.
Daniels chose the Huskies over Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas, Duke and San Diego State. He originally committed to Texas but later re-opened his recruitment.

Daniels is one of the top small forwards in the Class of 2011 and perhaps was the top uncommitted player.