Jasper Johnson makes 2025 USA Basketball Men’s U19 National Team, will compete in Switzerland

Jasper Johnson was one of 33 players invited to 2025 USA Basketball Men’s U19 National Team Training Camp in Colorado Springs. The Kentucky freshman then made the first cut down to 18 players, followed by the second cut down to 15. Now, Lexington’s own will be representing his hometown, home state and the Wildcats with Team USA in the 2025 FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup.

Johnson was one of 12 players to make the final roster, slated to compete from June 28 – July 6 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

He’s joined by Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville), AJ Dybantsa (BYU), Caleb Holt, Daniel Jacobsen (Purdue), JJ Mandaquit (Washington), Morez Johnson Jr. (Michigan), Nik Khamenia (Duke), Brandon McCoy Jr., Koa Peat (Arizona), Jordan Smith Jr. and Tyran Stokes.

“It would mean everything,” Johnson told KSR of the possibility of making the final 12-member roster and competing for a gold medal. “This is a blessing, a big opportunity. Not too many kids in the world are able to come out here and try out for U19, so that would be a great experience.”

The team will be coached by Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd (head coach), Texas Tech’s Grant McCasland (assistant) and Notre Dame’s Micah Shrewsberry (assistant). Mark Pope (Kentucky), Nate Oats (Alabama), Hubert Davis (North Carolina) and Damon Stoudamire (Georgia Tech) previously joined the team in Colorado Springs as court coaches, but will not follow along to Switzerland.

The United States is in Group D for the tournament alongside Australia, France and Cameroon. The inaugural event was held in 1979 and, until 2007, was held every four years. Since 2007, the tournament is held biannually. The U.S. has won the gold medal eight times, most recently in 2021. This year’s tournament will be the 17th staging of the event all time.

It’s a second opportunity for Johnson to earn a gold medal with USA Basketball, his first coming last summer in the 2024 FIBA U19 AmeriCup. He was also a part of the USA Men’s Nike Hoop Summit Team earlier this spring.

“Minus the miscues in the first session, where Jasper turned it over a couple of times… He was incredible,” Pope told KSR of Johnson’s performance in Colorado Springs. “He’s facing this backcourt group has some of the elite defenders — almost like NBA-level defensive players and he seemed completely immune to that pressure — he was so slippery.

“His decision making was elite, he shot the ball great, he came up with tough rebounds, he kind of showed it all over the floor. He had a great showing… It was fun to see his ability to manage physicality and pressure in the half court. I thought it was really impressive with the ball in his hands.”

Now, he gets to show what he’s capable of on the world stage — KY (and USA) Til I Die.

Congratulations, Jasper!