Kelly Olynyk hopes to help Canada qualify this summer for next year’s world championships and then advance to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“If I have an opportunity to play with the national team, I’d love to,” Olynyk said.

Olynyk was thrilled to see Anthony Bennett became the first Canadian to be drafted No. 1 overall.

“It’s huge,” Olynyk said of Bennett’s selection. “It’s an unbelievable accomplishment for Canada and Canadian basketball, especially with it never being done before. I can’t be happier for him.

“Hopefully, I get a chance to play with him in the national team or something along those lines. Hopefully, we can repeat it next year with Wiggins. ... I think (basketball in) Canada is still on the rise. There’s a lot of younger kids coming up who have a lot of potential and could (have) the same opportunity.”

The United States defeated Ivory Coast by a final score of 88-29 in the opening game of the Under-19 World Championships.

Aaron Gordon led Team USA with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Justise Winslow had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Marcus Smart had five points and three assists.

 Andrew Wiggins chose to enroll in summer school at Kansas instead of competing with the Canadian under-19 team.

Wiggins said he might practice with the Canadian national team later in the summer, but he wanted to acclimate himself as much as possible before his freshman season.

“I know that college is a big step from high school, so I just wanted to make sure I was ready for it,” Wiggins said.

Wiggins’ arrival has hardly gone unnoticed.

“We’ve recruited other good players before, but we haven’t had anybody with this type of attention,” Bill Self said. “I kind of feel for him. He's going to have to be able to tell people no. He’s got professional autograph seekers waiting for him every time he steps out of his apartment, stuff like that.”

USA Basketball has chosen its final roster for the U19 World Championship Team in Prague beginning next week.

The team will be coached by Billy Donovan.

Michael Frazier
Aaron Gordon
Jerami Grant
Montrezl Harrell
Jahil Okafor
Elfrid Payton
Marcus Smart
Jarnell Stokes
Rasheed Sulaimon
Mike Tobey
Nigel Williams-Goss
Justise Winslow 

USA Basketball announced 27 players to participate in their minicamp this summer.

Ryan Anderson (New Orleans Pelicans)
Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors)
Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards)
Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies)
DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings)
Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans)
DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors)
Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons)
Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets)
Derrick Favors (Utah Jazz)
Paul George (Indiana Pacers)
Taj Gibson (Chicago Bulls)
Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz)
Jrue Holiday (Philadelphia 76ers)
Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers)
DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers)
Ty Lawson (Denver Nuggets)
Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs)
Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers)
Greg Monroe (Detroit Pistons)
Chandler Parsons (Houston Rockets)
Larry Sanders (Milwaukee Bucks)
Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors)
Dion Waiters (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Kemba Walker (Charlotte Bobcats)
John Wall (Washington Wizards)
Tyler Zeller (Cleveland Cavaliers).

Tom Thibodeau and Monty Williams will join the coaching staff of USA Basketball.

Thibodeau and Williams will replace Mike D'Antoni and Nate McMillan, while Jim Boeheim will be a carryover on the staff of Mike Krzyzewski.

The next cycle of play begins in 2014 with the World Cup of Basketball.

DeMarcus Cousins has been invited to USA Basketball's mini-camp in late July.

Jerry Colangelo said Cousins had "some growing up to do" when he was a member of a select team practicing against USA Basketball's Olympic team last summer.

Cousins took offense to the comments.

"You bury the past and go forward," Colangelo said. "He's invited and he's definitely on the list. New year, new summer, new opportunity."