MRA’S EJ DAMPIER BRINGS HOME GOLD MEDAL AS PART OF THE USA NATIONAL BASKETBALL UNDER-16 TEAM
Madison-Ridgeland Academy
Gladden & Ingram
Performance Therapy MS
Performance Therapy Gluckstadt
Rooster's
The Tire Depot of Byram
By Robert Wilson
Madison-Ridgeland Academy rising sophomore EJ Dampier came home from Mexico with a gold medal.
The 6-foot-10 Dampier was one of 12 players on the USA National Basketball Under-16 Team that went undefeated and won the 2025 FIBA Americup this past week in Juarez, Mexico.
Dampier - son of former Mississippi State and 16-year NBA center Erick Dampier and the second youngest player on the team (he turns 16 on Oct. 22) – averaged 7.7 points, 6.7 rebounds (second best on the team and eighth best in the tournament), 1.3 assists, 1.3 blocked shots, and 0.7 steals while averaging 17 minutes per game in the six victories.
USA defeated Mexico 123-50, Dominican Republic 111-54 and Argentina 124-58 in pool play then defeated Brazil 129-50 in the quarterfinals, Puerto Rico 106-68 in the semifinals and Canada 108-71 in the championship game.
Dampier had personal highs of 12 points against Dominican Republic, 10 rebounds against Puerto Rico, and 4 assists against Mexico. He shot 66.7 percent from the field for the tournament.
Dampier was one of 36 players who tried out for the camp at the USA Basketball headquarters at Colorado Springs, Colo.
The top four teams qualify for next year’s U17 World Cup in Turkey.
Dampier (photo below with his father Erick and mother Yolanda) averaged 13.5 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game and helped MRA to a 17-13 record last season. He was the only freshman to make the 20-player Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Team.
Dampier – who has career highs of 29 points, 22 rebounds and 7 blocked shots - is ranked No. 3 in the country in the Class of 2028 by ESPN and made second-team freshmen All-American by MaxPreps.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg for Damp,” said MRA coach Richard Duease, who has won 1,858 games (1,266 boys and 572 girls) and will start his 51st season as a head coach, the last 44 at MRA, next season. “He has really developed since starting for us as an eighth grader for us. Damp is getting better and stronger. He’s been working hard in the weight room. Damp is changing from a boy to a man. He is starting to accept responsibility. Big Erick (Dampier, who was in Colorado with EJ during the tryouts) said the USA coaches liked his motor. He is constantly moving and working. Damp’s mental attitude is getting better.”
Dampier is the second Madison County resident to make an USA team in recent years. Germantown High alumnus Madison Booker, the reigning SEC Player of the Year and first-team All-American at the University of Texas, also made the women’s USA National Under 16 team and made the older teams as well several years ago.
Madison-Ridgeland Academy
Gladden & Ingram
Performance Therapy MS
Performance Therapy Gluckstadt
Rooster's
The Tire Depot of Byram
By Robert Wilson
Madison-Ridgeland Academy rising sophomore EJ Dampier came home from Mexico with a gold medal.
The 6-foot-10 Dampier was one of 12 players on the USA National Basketball Under-16 Team that went undefeated and won the 2025 FIBA Americup this past week in Juarez, Mexico.
Dampier - son of former Mississippi State and 16-year NBA center Erick Dampier and the second youngest player on the team (he turns 16 on Oct. 22) – averaged 7.7 points, 6.7 rebounds (second best on the team and eighth best in the tournament), 1.3 assists, 1.3 blocked shots, and 0.7 steals while averaging 17 minutes per game in the six victories.
USA defeated Mexico 123-50, Dominican Republic 111-54 and Argentina 124-58 in pool play then defeated Brazil 129-50 in the quarterfinals, Puerto Rico 106-68 in the semifinals and Canada 108-71 in the championship game.
Dampier had personal highs of 12 points against Dominican Republic, 10 rebounds against Puerto Rico, and 4 assists against Mexico. He shot 66.7 percent from the field for the tournament.
Dampier was one of 36 players who tried out for the camp at the USA Basketball headquarters at Colorado Springs, Colo.
The top four teams qualify for next year’s U17 World Cup in Turkey.
Dampier (photo below with his father Erick and mother Yolanda) averaged 13.5 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game and helped MRA to a 17-13 record last season. He was the only freshman to make the 20-player Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Team.
Dampier – who has career highs of 29 points, 22 rebounds and 7 blocked shots - is ranked No. 3 in the country in the Class of 2028 by ESPN and made second-team freshmen All-American by MaxPreps.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg for Damp,” said MRA coach Richard Duease, who has won 1,858 games (1,266 boys and 572 girls) and will start his 51st season as a head coach, the last 44 at MRA, next season. “He has really developed since starting for us as an eighth grader for us. Damp is getting better and stronger. He’s been working hard in the weight room. Damp is changing from a boy to a man. He is starting to accept responsibility. Big Erick (Dampier, who was in Colorado with EJ during the tryouts) said the USA coaches liked his motor. He is constantly moving and working. Damp’s mental attitude is getting better.”
Dampier is the second Madison County resident to make an USA team in recent years. Germantown High alumnus Madison Booker, the reigning SEC Player of the Year and first-team All-American at the University of Texas, also made the women’s USA National Under 16 team and made the older teams as well several years ago.
