Incoming Northwestern Freshman Starts International Tournament This Weekend

The forward is one of five first-years heading to Evanston next season.

Olentangy Liberty's Tyler Kropp drives from the top of the key against Newark's Steele Meister during the visiting Patriots' 58-49 victory at Jimmy Allen Gymnasium on Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023. | Kurt Snyder/The Advocate / USA TODAY NETWORK

Incoming Northwestern Basketball freshman Tyler Kropp is playing for Team Argentina at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup starting this weekend in the group stage.

Kropp and Argentina's first game will be tomorrow against New Zealand at 4:15 a.m. CT. It will then play again on Sunday against Serbia at a more manageable 7:30 a.m. before playing its final game of the group stage against Mali at 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday.

Kropp's mother is Argentinian, and this is not the first time he's represented the country on the world stage. His first taste of international competition came in 2023 when he participated in the FIBA U16 Americas Championship.

In three tournaments with Team Argentina, Kropp has averaged 17.4 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game. He's a major contributor for the team, and he'll look to build on those already impressive numbers in this tournament.

Every team is guarenteed to advance past the group stage regardless of performance since there is an even 16 teams partcipating. The group stage will only decide seeding for the knockout stage bracket.

The tournament will end for Kropp by Sunday, July 6 at the latest if Argentina advances all the way to the finals. When it's over, Kropp will head to Evanston to join the Wildcats for summer workouts.

Looking ahead to the 2025-26 season, Kropp is a member of Northwestern's five-man incoming recruiting class. The group is the highest ranked in Northwestern Basketball history.

It's unclear which of the five will contribute in year one, and there's thought that Kropp will ultimately decide to redshirt this season. But head coach Chris Collins showed a willingness to turn to mature freshmen last season with Angelo Ciaravino and K.J. Windham.

If Kropp can prove he can be trusted early, then who knows what role he can carve out for himself. Playing for Team Argentina certainly can't hurt.