Oregon Ducks center Kel’el Ware leads USA U18 National Team to victory over D.R.

Incoming freshman Kel’el Ware scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Team USA U18 National Team in their win over DR on Monday.

The future is bright for Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball program, and fans need to look no further than the FIBA U18 men’s national team to see that.

Oregon incoming freshman center Kel’el Ware started for Team USA in their first game against the Dominican Republic on Monday, and he dropped a team-high 17 points with nine rebounds in the 116-48 victory.

Ware was one of two Oregon commits named to USA Basketball Junior National Teams, as incoming women’s recruit Grace VanSlooten is representing the Ducks on the Women’s U18 National Team as well.

Ware is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 6 player in the class of 2022, and many believe he will be a one-and-done lottery pick in the 2023 NBA draft after a strong season in Eugene.

First, Ware gets to pick up extremely valuable experience playing high level basketball with some of the country’s most impactful incoming freshmen, including Arkansas’ Anthony Black, Stanford’s Kanaan Carlyle, and Duke’s Jared McCain.

There’s little doubt this experience will make him even more prepared to have an outstanding season in Eugene, adding more fuel to the recent rankings which include Oregon as a potential top-20 team next year.

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