FIBA U17 Scouting Notes: Team USA
Team USA was dominant at the U17 World Cup. Which individuals flashed the most pro potential?
“I want the gold. Give me the gold. I want the gold.”
A wise man once uttered these words, and legend has it he’s been searching for the gold ever since. On Sunday, Team USA found it from their conquest in Malaga, bringing home the gold medals from the FIBA U17 World Cup.
America has been on a legendary unbeaten streak over the last decade, overwhelming opponents with their size, athleticism and turning up the tempo on defense against a group of skill-based opponents. The group of players competing in the U17 World Cup are, most likely, going to be in the 2025 NBA Draft, though a few could qualify for the 2024 draft class.
As we try to frame the results of the World Cup into the context of the future draft process, the prospects we saw playing for Team USA will assuredly be near the top of draft watchlists and radars over the next three years. Several players on Team USA stood out as potential top picks and guys we are tracking moving forward. We’ll give a quick breakdown of the five best prospects we saw — not just in terms of their impact at the U17 World Cup, but their translatability and upside as we project it for NBA success.
Ron Holland - ATH, USA
The best athlete on the Team USA roster, Holland is a physically imposing 6’8” forward. He uses that athleticism and brute strength in a meaningful way, making him the perfect guy to pop in an up-tempo scheme and in a tournament like this where the leash is off on the defensive end.
What we still need to see from Holland is how he continues to look comfortable in a half-court role. He’s athletic enough to finish above everyone, and thrives on the space to get there. Refining his handle and shooting consistency is crucial to seeing him jump from an imposing top-shelf athlete to a legitimate basketball prospect.
Holland had a chippy exchange in the final moments of the Gold Medal game, needing to be held back by teammates after the final horn expired. He’s definitely got an edge and a mean streak to him, and honestly that could be what makes him great. Holland stood out to me as the guy with the most athletic flair, a high deal of defensive impact on any floor he’s on, and enough offensive upside to keep us involved. He shoots to the top of our 2024 watchlist, but it’s his defense and his motor that are separating factors.
DJ Wagner - CG, USA
On most consensus boards, Wagner is the top overall prospect in the 2023 class. The New Jersey native and son of Dajuan Wagner has it in his blood to be great, and he’s been paving his own path from a young age, even playing a more grassroots AAU schedule in his background. Wagner is physical and strong for his age, a crafty ball handler and a natural scorer.
Those who tuned into the FIBA tournament action looking to see Wagner blow away the competition with his athleticism and superstardom were likely disappointed. Wagner was slotted next to Jeremy Fears, a more natural point guard, and sacrificed some touches as a result. Team USA also played multiple guys and had a more balanced rotation, so it’s not like volume was going to be there for Wagner to begin with.
Despite those asterisks, the tournament wasn’t a great one for Wagner. He didn’t score it great or efficiently, but he cut down on turnovers (only one in the final three games), which was important for him fitting in as more of an off-ball threat.
Wagner’s main complaint is that he was only 4-19 from deep, far below his potential as a shooter. Some of that likely has to do with the lack of on-ball creation, as many young shooter used to volume rely on touches to get hot from deep. He didn’t get to the free throw line a ton, didn’t find a ton of other ways to impact the game, and had some turnover troubles early in the tournament.
We’ve seen plenty of Wagner as he’s been young to not overreact to this week-long tournament where he was cast slightly out of position. We still believe in the long-term value and vision he brings as a scoring guard, though it’s quite possible a few guys leapfrogged him long-term.
Jeremy Fears - PG, USA
One of the main reasons Wagner was siphoned into an off-ball role: the emergence of Jeremy Fears. Fears was the best player on the offensive end for Team USA in the semifinal and final round, averaging 17.5 points, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 65% from the field and 2-2 from deep.
Fears only took 8 3-pointers the entire tournament; he’s not a high-volume shooter and that’s the major area of long-term improvement for him. But he’s so good at anything else. Springy and athletic, he plays bigger than his 6’1” height suggests. He’s an instinctual defender, smart in the half-court and opportunistic in the open floor. He has a good mid-range pull-up, great touch near the rim, and is one of the best playmakers and passers out of ball screens that we’ve seen for his age.
Fears was our biggest gainer for Team USA, and in the class of 2023, he’s now a top prospect for the 2024 NBA Draft.
Shooting improvements will be big for Fears, but he is an elite game-manager and a good enough scorer on the interior to be an offensive pillar. The Michigan State commit should be given his flowers for how good he was on both ends of the floor in this tournament.
Ian Jackson - W, USA
Jackson got off to a molten hot start shooting the ball in Malaga and was the early MVP for Team USA. Jackson is in the high school class of 2024, making him a 2025 NBA Draft prospect; it’s worth noting that he’s old enough to be able to re-class up and be eligible for the 2024 NBA Draft (he’d be 19 at the time of the draft). He’s currently the #2 ranked player in his class, and boy did he back that up.
Jackson’s start caused scouts to salivate: over the first three games, he was 8-14 from deep and averaged 19.3 points per game. He cooled down as the tournament went on and only played 7 minutes in the Gold Medal game against Spain.
Still, the start was great in showcasing what Jackson can do when he’s at his best. He’s very athletic and is a good finisher (58.7% inside the arc on the tournament), has a picturesque shooting stroke and enough lateral quickness to give defensive upside. His game is so scalable to becoming the next great wing who thrives as a second or third option in the NBA — think Bennedict Mathurin.
Jackson has to keep up his consistency and improve some key areas with the ball in his hands. We haven’t dug into too many guys in his draft class, but the modernity of his game and athletic upside at 6’7” makes him a frontrunner to be a top-five guy.
Cooper Flagg - F, USA
Flagg is, without a doubt, the youngest guy to have a major impact in this tournament. Flagg is only 15 years old, and he’s a supremely great kid. Humble and competitive, the Maine native is a late-riser on the national scene but blew everyone away as not just a great contributor to the Gold Medal team at his young age, but was named to the all-tournament team.
Standing at 6’7”, Flagg is slightly undersized for the role he’ll likely play. He’s only 15, so a few more inches and some strength is only natural to come. But he needs to be at the 6’10” area to really provide a ton of faith that he won’t get caught in a tweener spot.
Quite frankly, Flagg is too young to have these type of projections put upon him. The point of this entire tournament was that he may not pass all the eye test or athletic indicator tests, but he is wildly productive, mature beyond his years in his game and an impactful defender.
Flagg is super young, but he should be dominating the youth circuit for the next several years. We still think it’s a tad too early to be talking about his pro future, but man is this kid wildly productive.
Other standouts: David Castillo, Karter Knox, Koa Peat, Sean Stewart