Former Kansas Jayhawks guard Frank Mason to play for U.S. World Cup qualifying team
Former Kansas men’s basketball point guard Frank Mason III is one of 12 individuals who will compete for the United States 2021 World Cup qualifying team, USA Basketball announced Monday.
Mason, 27, who is a member of the NBA G League’s South Bay Lakers, will be joined on the U.S. team by Jordan Bell (Santa Cruz Warriors), Brian Bowen (Iowa Wolves), Josh Gray (Long Island Nets), Shaq Harrison (Delaware Blue Coats), DaQuan Jeffries (College Park Skyhawks), BJ Johnson (Lakeland Magic), Orlando Johnson (free agent), Luke Kornet (Maine Celtics), Chasson Randle (free agent), Zavier Simpson (Oklahoma City Blue) and Emanuel Terry (Stockton Kings).
The U.S. team will train Saturday through Nov. 25 at the University of Houston. The team will participate in the first competition window of 2021-23 FIBA World Cup Qualifying games, which will be played in a bubble format in Chihuahua, Mexico. The U.S. will meet Cuba on Nov. 28 and host Mexico on Nov. 29.
Former NBA head coach Jim Boylen will serve as head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team. He will be assisted by Ty Ellis and Othella Harrington.
Mason played for the September 2018 USA World Cup Qualifying Team. He averaged 11.0 points and 5.0 assists in 18.0 minutes a game. A starter, he hit 9 of 12 shots in the two games and was 2-of-3 from three.
Featuring 16 national teams from North America, Central America, South American and the Caribbean, the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament for the Americas zone features four preliminary round groups. Each group consists of four teams. The top three finishing teams from each group will qualify for the second round. Following the second round, the top three teams from each group will qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
The USA is in Group D with Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Former Kansas Jayhawks guard Frank Mason to play for U.S. World Cup qualifying team."
