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A lot of Spartan news today, as the MSU Basketball Twitter account just sent this out:
MSU_Basketball Spartan BasketballCongrats to Keith Appling on making the USA U19 World Championship Team @usabasketball http://bit.ly/mh3Uqc
The link goes to a USA basketball press release, as Appling made the final cut down from 13 to 12. It was rumored that either Appling or Villanova guard James Bell would be the last player cut, but it came down to having enough players to run the point:
"The selection was harder than I expected. The young man we decided not to keep, Javon McCrae, it was really just a numbers situation, he played more than well enough to make the team. We just didn’t feel comfortable going over there without three point guards," Hewitt stated.
Appling joins Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr. and Illinois' Meyers Leonard as the other Big Ten players on the U-19 team. Keith will leave for Europe tomorrow and tournament games begin on June 30th in Latvia. Congratulations to Keith, and let's hope the point guard experience he picks up this Summer will be invaluable in the Fall and Winter.