Rodney Purvis Misses the Cut at U19 Tryouts

Rodney Purvis, who transferred to UConn from NC State this spring and won't be eligible to play for the Huskies until the 2014-15 season, missed the cut at the USA Men's Basketball U19 team tryouts.

Here's the release sent out by USA Basketball:

Following four training sessions involving 26 of America's top 19-and-under players, USA Basketball today announced 16 finalists for the 2013 USA Basketball Men's U19 World Championship Team. The roster will be pared down to 12 before the squad departs on June 19 for three days of training at the Washington Wizards practice facility in Washington, D.C. The 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship will be held June 24-July 6 in Prague, Czech Republic. The finalists, who must be 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1994) and a U.S. citizen to be eligible for this team, were selected by the USA Basketball Men's Developmental National Team Committee.

Selected as a USA U19 finalist were Ryan Arcidiacono (Villanova University/Langhorne, Pa.); Damyean Dotson (University of Oregon/Houston, Texas); Michael Frazier (University of Florida/Tampa, Fla.); Marcus Georges-Hunt (Georgia Tech/College Park, Ga.); Aaron Gordon (Archbishop Mitty H.S./San Jose, Calif.); Jerami Grant (Syracuse University/Bowie, Md.); Montrezl Harrell (University of Louisville/Tarboro, N.C.); Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young H.S./Chicago, Ill.); Elfrid Payton (University of Louisiana at Lafayette/Gretna, La.); James Robinson (University of Pittsburgh/Mitchellville, Md.); Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State University/Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes (University of Tennessee/Memphis, Tenn.); Rasheed Sulaimon (Duke University/Houston, Texas); Mike Tobey (University of Virginia/Monroe, N.Y.); Nigel Williams-Goss (Findlay Prep/Happy Valley, Ore.); and Justise Winslow (St. Johns H.S./Houston, Texas).

"We had 26 really, really good players and all of the guys made the selection very, very difficult," said USA U19 and University of Florida head coach Billy Donovan. "I think the things that stand out about this team is just the athleticism; the speed and quickness; the ability to defend and put pressure on people; and offensive rebound.

"We still have to get down to 12 players and the challenge right now is to see how these 16 guys fit into what we're trying to do. We'll learn a lot more in the next three practices; we'll see how well guys pick up certain things; how the chemistry is; the way they bond, the way they connect.

"I think the biggest thing is just our unity, us being connected, understanding what the goal is and them playing together, playing unselfishly. We have a lot of versatile players; guys that can move to different positions; I think we have a lot of size and strength on this team; I think we have guards that can defend and have good quickness and speed," added Donovan, who led the 2012 USA U18 Team to a 5-0 record, a FIBA Americas U18 gold medal finish and a qualifying berth for the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.