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Sophomore Austin Wiley earned a big honor today as he was announced as part of Team USA for the U19 FIBA World Cup. The event takes place in Egypt in early July.
Congrats to @__Austinwiley50 for being named to @usabasketball U19 World Cup Team Going for the #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/ILaAlp2EjF
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) June 22, 2017
Wiley earned a ton of praise throughout the week during the tryouts (much of that from Kyle Tucker who was there covering the tryouts) and that continued over to today following his selection.
Holy goodness, Auburn's Austin Wiley, former 5-star recruit, is the most physically imposing dude in USA camp. He's bulked up. Super jacked.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_SEC) June 18, 2017
For the Auburn folks, Austin Wiley just worked 5-star WKU freshman Mitchell Robinson on the block, drew foul. Calipari: "Way to go, Austin!"
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_SEC) June 22, 2017
Austin Wiley is a BEAST @__Austinwiley50 @AuburnMBB #USABMU19 pic.twitter.com/6TKbdwRRIZ
— Overtime (@overtime) June 19, 2017
Two other college stars who shined according to many in attendance in Colorado Springs: Maryland's Kevin Huerter and Auburn's Austin Wiley.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 20, 2017
The video you need: John Calipari throwing Auburn's Austin Wiley a lob while Danny Manning defends. pic.twitter.com/0VhzOpwJwn
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_SEC) June 21, 2017
Repeat: Austin Wiley is a problem. Mercy. pic.twitter.com/L490yapFRo
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_SEC) June 22, 2017
Austin Wiley: a problem, part two. pic.twitter.com/Apd6ADvXV1
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_SEC) June 19, 2017
All of that should sit very well with Auburn Basketball fans as it appears Wiley has significantly improved his body and his play in the offseason. This experience will only add to that as he gets ready for the upcoming season.
Unfortunately, not all the news out of Colorado Springs was good. Signee and incoming freshman Chuma Okeke made the first cut, but didn't advance after suffering a knee injury. Hopefully, the news will be good for Chuma and Auburn once the full extent of his injury is known.
For now, though, we'll just have to try to catch Wiley playing with Team USA in July so that we can get a better idea of just how much he's progressed. It should be a lot of fun and there sure is a lot of potential for the 2017-18 Auburn Basketball Team.