Kansas Basketball Freshman Taylen Kinney Selected to USA Basketball Men's U18 Team

On Wednesday, future Kansas basketball point guard Taylen Kinney was announced as one of 12 members of the 2026 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team.

The 6-foot-2 guard from Kentucky was selected by USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee among a pool of 32 players who participated in six days of training camp at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Incoming freshman forward Davion Adkins was also one of the 32 vying for a spot on this year’s team.

Kinney, who is widely expected to start at point guard for the Jayhawks this upcoming season, was name a 2026 McDonald's All-American and competed for RWE in the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta last season, averaging 18.8 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game. He was a five-star recruit and one of the most coveted prospects in the country when he committed to KU in September of last year.

Kinney will be joined on Team USA by players from both the 2026 and 2027 graduating classes, including Bruce Branch III, Quentin Coleman, Adan Diggs, Caleb Gaskins, Demarcus Henry, Jasiah Jervis, Malachi Jordan, Colben Landrew, Ethan Taylor, Davion Thompson and Darrius Wabbington. The team will continue training in Colorado Springs until they depart for the 2026 FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup scheduled for June 1-7 in Leon, Mexico.

The team is led by head coach Anthony Grant (Dayton) and assistant coaches Matt Langel (Colgate) and Nate Oats (Alabama).

USA Basketball will open Group A (USA, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico) play starting June 1 when they take on Argentina at 7:30 p.m. ET. Each game of the tournament will be streamed live on the FIBA YouTube channel.

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