Jasper Johnson advances, Malachi Moreno cut at USA U19 Training Camp

Good news and bad news out of Colorado Springs for Kentucky‘s incoming freshmen.

The good news is that Jasper Johnson made the first round of cuts with the roster trimmed down from 32 players to 18, announced Monday afternoon after four sessions at the 2025 USA Basketball Men’s U19 National Team Training Camp. The bad news is that Malachi Moreno did not make the cut, returning home to Lexington to continue life as a Wildcat with summer workouts ramping up.

The 18 players continuing on with USA Basketball and still alive for the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup are:

• Mikel Brown Jr. (Louisville)
• Chris Cenac Jr. (Houston)
• Christian Collins (2026)
• Jason Crowe Jr. (2026)
• AJ Dybantsa (BYU)
• Caleb Holt (2026)
• Daniel Jacobsen (Purdue)
• Jasper Johnson (Kentucky)
• Morez Johnson (Michigan)
• Nik Khamenia (Duke)
• JJ Mandaquit (Washington)
• Brandon McCoy Jr. (2026)
• Royce Parham (Marquette)
• Koa Peat (Arizona)
• Tyrone Riley IV (San Francisco)
• Deron Rippey Jr. (2026)
• Tyran Stokes (2026)
• Elijah Williams (2026)

18 finalists remain for the 2025 USA Men's U19 National Team.

🇺🇸 #USABMU19 pic.twitter.com/si3rPDArNO

— USABJNT (@usabjnt) June 16, 2025

The first cut down to 18 took place Monday, followed by the final cut down to 12 players for the official Team USA roster in Switzerland will be announced on June 21. The 2025 FIBA World Cup is scheduled for June 28-July 6.

Mark Pope made his Team USA coaching debut in Colorado Springs as a court coach, joined by Johnson and Moreno — plus nine 2026 recruits holding scholarship offers from the Wildcats. Those still in the mix for the final roster considered Kentucky targets include Christian Collins, Jason Crowe Jr., Caleb Holt, Brandon McCoy Jr., Deron Rippey Jr. and Tyran Stokes.

The work continues for Jasper Johnson at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center while the work begins for Malachi Moreno at the Joe Craft Center.

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