Boyle to lead USA U19 team

BASKETBALL

Buffs coach led the U18s to gold last summer at the Americas Championship

Buffs coach Tad Boyle, seen during a game against Colorado State on Dec. 8, will be joined at the FIBA World Cup by Boise State’s Leon Rice and Oklahoma State’s Mike Boynton Jr., who will be his assistant coaches. MATTHEW JONAS — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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By Pat Rooney

prooney@ prairiemountainmedia.com

Once again, Tad Boyle will represent the Colorado Buffaloes on an international hoops stage.

On Monday, USA Basketball announced that CU’s veteran men’s basketball coach will lead the US U19 men’s national team this summer at the FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup.

Boyle’s latest nomination continues an ongoing relationship with USA Basketball. His most recent assignment was last summer, when Boyle led the US U18 team to a gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico.

Boyle’s two staff members from that run a year ago, Boise State coach Leon Rice and Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton Jr., once again will join Boyle as assistant coaches. The U19 World Cup will be held June 24 to July 2 in Debrecen, Hungary.

“I’m once again honored and humbled to have the opportunity to coach with USA Basketball and this summer with the 19-and-under national team,” Boyle said in a release. “Anytime you have the opportunity to represent your country, it’s a responsibility that needs to be taken very seriously, and I’m looking forward to doing that and working with a bunch of great young men.

“I’m very excited to be working with Mike Boynton and Leon Rice for another summer. We had great synergy and chemistry last year as we won the gold medal with the 18-and-under national team. We look forward to the same challenges as we go to Hungary to try and accomplish the same.”

Boyle’s relationship with USA Basketball began in 2013 when he served as a court coach for the training camp of the USA Men’s World University Games team. In 2015, Boyle earned a bronze medal as an assistant coach at the Pan American games in Toronto, then added another bronze in 2017 as an assistant for the U19 World Cup team in Egypt. That latter team was led by Kentucky coach John Calipari, who was an assistant at Kansas when Boyle played there in the 1980s.

Boyle became the all-time wins leader for the CU men’s program when he notched win No. 262 against Southern Utah on Dec. 21. He finished the season with a mark of 272-172 in 13 seasons at CU. Boyle’s CU teams have earned five NCAA Tournament berths and four NIT berths, including this season as the Buffs were eliminated in the second round of the NIT by Utah Valley last week. The Buffs were in line for another NCAA berth in 2020 before the tournament was canceled at the start of the COVID pandemic.

USA Basketball has not yet released a player pool for the U19 training camp, yet there is a reasonable chance it will include prized incoming CU recruit Cody Williams, ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports. It also could possibly include now-former Oregon forward Kel’el Ware, who played for Boyle’s U18 team in Mexico last summer.

Ranked as the No. 7 recruit in the 2022 class by 247Sports, the 7-foot Ware appeared in 35 games this season for Oregon (four starts), averaging 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.8 minutes. On Monday, Ware announced his intention to leave the Ducks via the transfer portal.