MALIBU, California – Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards of the Pepperdine men's basketball team is one of 34 invitees to an upcoming USA Basketball Men's U19 World Cup Team training camp, the organization announced today.
 
The camp will be held from June 15-18 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. From the camp, 12 players will be chosen to represent the U.S. at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in Greece later in June.
 
"When Coach Romar told me about it, I was pretty surprised, but it's very cool," Edwards said. "I feel like it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent this country playing basketball. That's really a blessing. I'm going to go out and make the most of it, and it should be fun."
 
Of the 35 participants, Edwards is one of seven players who have completed a season of college basketball. Fourteen are graduating from high school this spring, and another 13 are members of the high school class of 2020.
 
"It's great to see Kessler be recognized for what he accomplished during his freshman year at the collegiate level," Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said. "It's a great honor for him to be able to potentially represent this country with USA Basketball."
 
Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) earned West Coast Conference All-Freshman team honors this past season after averaging 10.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks. Among WCC freshmen, Edwards was the top rebounder and ranked second in scoring and third in blocked shots. Overall, he was 14th in rebounding and tied for seventh in blocks. His 1,001 minutes played and 34 blocks were the second and third-most ever, respectively, by a Pepperdine freshman in a season. He had six steals at Gonzaga on February 21, setting a Pepperdine freshman single-game record.
 
This will be Edwards' first experience with USA Basketball. The U.S. team is being led by head coach Bruce Weber (Kansas State) and assistant coaches Mike Hopkins (Washington) and LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central).