Oregon Signees Dior Johnson, Kel’el Ware Invited to USA Basketball U18 Training Camp
Oregon Ducks Men’s Basketball signees Dior Johnson and Kel’el Ware were among 27 athletes invited to the 2022 Men’s U18 Training Camp in Houston, Texas, according to a USA Basketball press release.
Johnson, Ware and the rest of the athletes will compete from May 26 through June 2 with the ultimate goal of making the 12-man squad that will compete in the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in Tijuana, Mexico starting June 6.
The future Ducks are both a part of just 11 players invited from the class of 2022. Among them are other highly-touted recruits like UCLA commit Amari Bailey and Arkansas commit Nick Smith Jr. – both of whom are top five recruits in the 2022 class according to ESPN.
For Ware, it’s another accolade in an incredible senior year. The rest of his trophy case is just as impressive: back-to-back Arkansas State Championships with North Little Rock High School while averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds a game, McDonald’s High School All-American, and invites to the 2022 Jordan Brand Classic and 2022 USA Nike Hoop Summit Team.
At the Nike Hoop Summit a month ago, Ware made his presence felt off the bench with 11 points on four-of-five field goal shooting and five rebounds at the Moda Center in Portland. Ware and team USA took the 102-80 win against the World Select Team.
As for Johnson, recognition has been harder to come by in the final year of his lengthy high school career. Johnson was not included on the McDonald’s All-American roster, and it’s clear from his Twitter that he was not happy with the snub.
Dior Johnson is one of the more critiqued high school basketball players thanks to his knack for the spotlight and his unorthodox journey thus far. Johnson has played for 10 different high schools in five different states, most recently playing for Southern California Academy in Los Angeles.
Johnson was originally committed to Syracuse back in 2020 before de-committing and eventually deciding to join forces with Dana Altman and the Ducks in November of 2021.
The coaching staff for the week-long training camp and the subsequent FIBA competition is led by Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle, with Arizona Head Coach Tommy Lloyd set to assist with drills during training camp. Both Pac-12 coaches will get an early look at Ware and Johnson before they have to face the talented duo in conference play.
Out of the 11 FIBA U18 Championships that have been held since 1990, Team USA has taken home nine gold medals.
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