KU basketball freshmen survive first round of cuts for Under-18 national team
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas incoming freshmen Davion Adkins and Taylen Kinney were named 19 finalists.
- Finalists were selected from a group of 32 athletes after the training camp.
- USA will announce a 12‑member U18 roster before departing for the FIBA AmeriCup in June.
Kansas incoming freshmen men’s basketball players Davion Adkins and Taylen Kinney have been named two of 19 finalists for the 2026 USA Basketball Men’s Under 18 National Team, it was announced Saturday.
Finalists were selected from a group of 32 athletes following three days of training camp at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
Training camp, which opened Thursday, will continue for the next several days. The 12-member team will be announced before the Team USA squad departs for the 2026 FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup, scheduled for June 1-7 in Leon, Mexico.
Finalists were selected by the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee.
The finalists are: Adkins, Kinney, Reese Alston, Tarris Bouie, Bruce Branch III, Quentin Coleman, Adan Diggs, Caleb Gaskins, Demarcus Henry, Josh Irving, Jasiah Jervis, Malachi Jordan, Colben Landrew, J’Lon Lyons, Bo Ogden, Baba Oladotun, Ethan Taylor, Davion Thompson and Darrius Wabbington.
Adkins, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound forward from Arlington, Texas, competed for Prolific Prep this past school year in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Adkins, who has a 7-2 wingspan, will arrive at KU as ESPN.com’s No. 64-rated player in the recruiting class of 2026.
Kinney, a 6-2, 175-pound point guard out of the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta, averaged 18.8 points, 6.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game his senior season. Kinney, a native of Newport, Kentucky, will enter KU as the No. 13 rated player in the class of 2026 according to ESPN.com.
Adkins and Kinney in 2024 and 2025 both attended minicamps for the USA Men’s Junior National Team. Also, in 2024 both attended the Men’s U17 National Team minicamp. Kinney also participated in the training camp for the 2025 USA Men’s U19 National Team.
Ogden is the only finalist with previous national-team experience. He won a gold medal at the 2024 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup.
Gaskins was previously a finalist for the 2024 USA U17 National Team and, along with Branch and Taylor, helped the USA capture a sixth straight victory over the World Team at the Nike Hoop Summit in April.
Training camp is led by 2026 USA Men’s U18 National Team head coach Anthony Grant (Dayton) and assistant coaches Matt Langel (Colgate) and Nate Oats (Alabama).
USA Basketball will open Group A play with Argentina, Brazil and Mexico at the 2026 FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup. The U.S. men will take on Argentina in their opening game at 6:30 p.m. on June 1.
