Georgia Tech’s Okogie still alive with USA Basketball

Georgia Tech’s Josh Okogie has made the first cut for the USA Basketball team.

The sophomore from Snellville was one of 18 players who remain under consideration to join the team that will represent the United States in the FIBA U19 World Championships in Egypt later this summer.

The final 12-man roster will be announced Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There are seven college players and 11 high school players still under consideration for a spot on the team.

The team was cut from 27 after four training sessions.

“I think we’ve got a good group of finalists,” said Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who is the head coach of the U.S. team. We’re pretty long and athletic. It looks like we’re going to be somewhat positionless, and we’re going to have some 6-8 guys that can play point guard, bring it up and make plays.”

Okogie, a 6-foot-4 guard, led the Yellow Jackets in scoring at 16.1 points and was named to the ACC’s All-Freshman team. He finished with the fifth-highest scoring average for a freshman in program history. He ranked 15th in the conference in scoring and had 32 double-digit scoring games.

One factor in Okogie’s favor is his ability to rebound. He was Georgia Tech’s third-leading rebounder (5.4) and averaged 1.65 assists and 1.3 steals. Okogie’s high-motor and selfless nature also work to his advantage.

“I told some kids in our meeting that if you want to make this team, you’re going to have to rebound and show us you’re going to rebound,” Calipari said. “If you’re going to make this team, you’re going to have to pass the ball. You can’t be trying to shoot every ball. … I’m going to be real about what we have to do. The reason is we don’t have time, we have three practices and then we’ve got to make another cut and get it to 12.”

Chuma Okeke of Atlanta’s Westlake, a 6-7 forward who has committed to Auburn, was the only other Georgia player to make the cut.

Okogie is the first Georgia Tech player invited to the camp since Marcus Georges-Hunt and Robert Carter Jr. in 2013.

It won’t be easy to make the team. Nine of the players have USA Basketball experience and seven were on gold-medal winning teams in 2016.

“For the guys that made it, now it’s on,” Calipari said. “Now the real stuff begins.”

This story was originally published June 20, 2017 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Georgia Tech’s Okogie still alive with USA Basketball."