Robinson, Team USA win U19 championships

Pitt men’s basketball player James Robinson earned his second gold medal in the Czech Republic on Sunday when he and the rest of the United States’ under-19 basketball team defeated Serbia 82-68 in the FIBA U19 World Championship title game. 

 The victory gave the U.S. its second championship at the U19 level since 2009, when Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon and former guard Ashton Gibbs were part of the team that took home gold in New Zealand. 

 Over the nine games played at the tournament, Robinson, a sophomore point guard, scored 19 points, handed out 19 assists and recorded 10 steals in 127 minutes of play. Robinson averaged 14.1 minutes, 2.1 assists, 2.1 points and 1.7 rebounds per game over the course of the tournament.

 Robinson’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.71 ranked him second on the team in the nine games. 

 Team USA blasted through the tournament, winning each game by an average margin of 39.6 points and outrebounding its opposition by an average margin of plus 19.6. The team’s largest win came in its debut at the event, as the squad destroyed the Ivory Coast representation by a score of 88-29.

 Players on the squad included Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart, Arizona recruit and tournament MVP Aaron Gordon, Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell and Jahlil Okafor, who is ranked as a five-star forward in the class of 2014. 

 The coaching staff consisted of Florida’s Billy Donovan as head coach along with VCU’s Shaka Smart and Virginia’s Tony Bennett in assistant coaching roles. 

 Behind the star-studded roster, Team USA went 9-0 in the competition.