Tad Boyle ready to start training camp with USA Basketball

There is no telling just how important this summer is for Tad Boyle, head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. He just wrapped recruiting for the 2017-18 basketball season after losing the majority of contributors from last season’s squad, and he did that almost flawlessly. Now he’s gearing up for the FIBA U19 World Cup, which he serves on as assistant coach on Team USA.

The FIBA U19 World Cup attracts some of the best young talent in the world, talent that Tad Boyle is hoping to get closer to. This year’s squad is loaded. There are potential 2017 NBA prospects like Hamidou Diallo (Kentucky), some of the Pac-12’s best young players like Payton Pritchard (Oregon) and Malachi Flynn (Washington State), and some of the best prospects in the 2017 and 2018 draft classes, like Kevin Knox (Kentucky), Mitchell Robinson (Western Kentucky) and Bol Bol (Manute’s son). Boyle is unlikely to recruit any of these particular players, especially with U19 head coach John Calipari hanging around, but it’s a great opportunity for him to rub elbows and get his name out there for other top prospects. Coaching this team should be a boon for his recruiting ability.

Helping coach Team USA also brings with it coaching experience that could potentially be invaluable for Boyle. Calipari is one of the best college coaches of all time and Boyle will have much to learn from him on a wide range of coaching topics, such as game management, how to recruit stars, how to deal with stars you’ve recruited, and how to get those recruited stars into the NBA Draft and use your reputation as a talent developer to get more star recruits. The coaching staff also features Wake Forest’s Danny Manning, the legendary Kansas Jayhawk, Tad’s former KU teammate. Besides reminiscing about their playing days, Boyle will have another solid coach to learn subtleties from.

Training camp for Team USA runs from June 18-25 and take place at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The competition will be in Cairo, Egypt and will be played from July 1 to July 7. Team USA is in Group D with Iran, Angola and Italy.