Romar to coach U.S. U-18 men
SEATTLE – USA Basketball has selected Washington coach Lorenzo Romar to lead the men’s Under-18 team in the qualification tournament for the 2007 FIBA world championships.
Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt and Jerry Wainwright of DePaul will be assistants. The qualifying tournament runs June 28-July 2 in San Antonio, Texas.
“Whenever I’ve gotten a chance to work with USA Basketball, I’ve always felt honored,” Romar said. “To represent the United States in the United States is going to be a first for me, and I anticipate it is going to be very special.”
Romar is 84-42 in four seasons with Washington, reaching the NCAA tournament round of 16 the last two years.
He was an assistant to Tom Izzo at the 2003 Pan American Games, and an assistant under Rick Majerus at the 1997 Under-22 World Championship.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is chair of the committee that chose the coaches. The team will be selected from about 30 candidates during tryouts June 16-18 in San Antonio.
The qualifying tournament includes the U.S., Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Argentina, Bahamas, Canada and Puerto Rico. Four teams will qualify for the 2007 FIBA Under-19 World Championship.
The U.S. is 25-1 in Under-18 qualifiers. The American men won gold in 1990, 1994 and 1998 and won bronze in 2002.