USA Basketball tabs Jim Boylen to coach World Cup qualifiers

Jim Boylen has been picked to coach USA Basketball next month in the first window of qualifying for the 2023 Basketball World Cup.

Boylen’s team will be composed primarily of G League players, and the roster is yet to be finalized. The team will train in Houston for about a week before traveling to Chihuahua, Mexico to play Cuba on Nov. 28 and Mexico on Nov. 29.

Those are the first two of six first-round games for the U.S. The Americans are also scheduled to play Puerto Rico on Feb. 24, Mexico on Feb. 27, Puerto Rico on July 1 and Cuba on July 4.

“To have this opportunity to represent my country in the November FIBA World Cup qualifying games is truly humbling,” Boylen said.

Boylen will be assisted by Ty Ellis and Othella Harrington.

There are four teams in four groups of qualifying out of the FIBA Americas region. The top three teams in each group move onto the second round of qualifying, which starts in August and runs through February 2023.

The World Cup — where teams can directly qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics — runs from Aug. 25-Sept. 10, 2023.

Boylen has previously been a head coach with the University of Utah, has been an assistant on three NBA staffs that won championships and most recently was coach of the Chicago Bulls.