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Boys basketball: Marcus' Smart Brazil bound
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
Following four years of dominating the state's high school basketball scene, Marcus graduate and reigning two-time Gatorade Texas Boys Basketball Player of the Year Marcus Smart is taking his skills to the international level.
Last week, Smart was one of 12 players selected to the USA Basketball U18 National Team, which departed for Sao Sebastiao do Paraiso, Brazil Tuesday to battle against the world's best young hoopsters in the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championships.
"It's a great honor," Smart said. "When you look at representing your country and the history of the players like LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird that have played on the team, there's nothing that compares to this.
The Oklahoma State signee left for Colorado Springs June 5 for the National Team Trials and made the final roster Saturday.
Fellow Texans Julius Randle (Prestonwood Christian Academy) and Rasheed Sulaimon (Houston Strake Jesuit) also made the squad. Randle will be a senior next season while Sulaimon has signed with Duke. Smart also played with USA teammate Rodney Purvis previously at the 2012 McDonald's All-American Game and faced off against Purvis' Upper Room Christian squad in November with Marcus winning, 61-54.
"We have three Texas guys on the team and we've hit it off pretty well," Smart said. "I've become good buddies with a bunch of the guys on the team through training camp, the McDonald's game and the other chances I've had to play with these talented players."
The camp featured 23 of the country's top players, including Andrew and Aaron Harrison of Fort Bend Travis, which Marcus beat in the 2012 Class 5A State Title game.
"We had workouts and scrimmages for four days," Smart said. "It was very competitive. [The coaches] really wanted to see how we interacted with each other and put us in some tough situations to see how we could cope with them. I think they wanted to see if we could keep a positive attitude."
After trimming the roster down to 14 last Thursday, the final cuts were made Saturday. Smart acknowledged that his time at Marcus -- where he was noted for his team-oriented play and defensive ability -- helped prepare him for the training camp.
"It really benefitted me throughout the process," he said. "The coaches were real big on defense. 'D wins games' was kind of their motto for the week and I felt I fit right in."
Smart said he expects to see time on the court at both the point guard and shooting guard positions.
The team is led by head coach Billy Donovan (Florida) and assistants Mark Few (Gonzaga) and Shaka Smart (Virginia Commonwealth).
In Brazil, Team USA will practice Wednesday through Friday, with a scrimmage Thursday against Canada, before opening tournament competition in pool play Saturday against the U.S. Virgin Islands. The rest of pool play sees USA face Mexico on Sunday and host Brazil on Monday. The medal rounds begin Tuesday with the gold medal game slated for June 20.
The trip will be Smart's first out-of-the-country experience.
"It's going to be interesting," he said. "We're getting on the plane here in about 45 minutes. I can't wait to get out there and can't wait to start playing."
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