By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

COLORADO SPRING, COLO. – USA Basketball put out a press release on Sept. 15 announcing the names of 57 players invited to the 2015-16 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team roster, and on that list are two Shelby County players becoming more and more familiar with this national level attention in Pelham’s Alex Reese and Spain Park’s Austin Wiley.

Of the 57 players named to the roster, 55 have confirmed they will be in attendance at the 7^th annual USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team minicamp that will be held Oct. 2-4 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., the press release stated. Both Wiley and Reese, along with Madison Academy standout Joshua Langford, are all in the 55 names that have confirmed their attendance.

This is just the latest in an offseason full of hype and notoriety placed on the two junior big men from Shelby County. Wiley has consistently been ranked among the top-10 players in the country in the class of 2017, while Reese has made his way out of obscurity after an impressive sophomore campaign with Pelham and an equally impressive summer of travel ball, and now is in multiple top-50 rankings in the 2017 class as well.

Per the USA Basketball press release, the minicamp will be led by legendary coach Don Showalter, who has directed USA teams to seven gold medal finishes as head coach of the USA Basketball Junior National Team since 2009.

“The annual October Junior National Team minicamp is an important component in the success USA Basketball has been able to achieve and sustain at the U16-U18 international competitions,” Showalter said. “We have many of the top players for three different age groups attending the minicamp and not only will this help us get an early start in its preparations for next year’s competitions, but also afford the players with an opportunity to work and improve their games.”