Tad Boyle tabbed as next head coach of USA U18 team

BOULDER — Tad Boyle has a new job.

USA Basketball announced Friday that Colorado’s head coach will take over as its U18 coach for the upcoming FIBA Americas Championships this summer in Brazil. The team will hold a training camp in Houston before the tournament. Boyle first worked with USA Basketball in 2013 when he served as a court coach for the Men’s World University Games team.

“I’m honored and humbled to have the opportunity to coach the 18-and-under national team,” Boyle said in a press release. “Anytime you have the opportunity to represent your country, it’s a responsibility that needs to be taken very seriously, and I’m looking forward to doing that and working with a bunch of great young men and being back with USA Basketball.”

Boyle has served on the coaching staff for the American team in the 2015 Pan American games. He also was an assistant coach for the 2017 U19 National team under John Calipari.

Boyle has five assistant coaches, all of whom are Division I head coaches; Mike Boynton Jr. (Oklahoma State), Leon Rice (Boise State), Matt Langel (Colgate), Rob Lanier (SMU) and Tommy Lloyd (Arizona).

“Working with this coaching staff is an opportunity for me to grow professionally, and for us to grow professionally together,” Boyle said. “That’s what is great about these kinds of experiences. I’ve had two of them previously with John Calipari and Danny Manning and Mark Few and Mike Brown. So having the opportunity to learn and grow with Leon and Mike is something that I look forward to as well.”

The 2020 U18 FIBA Americas Championship was canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2018 squad was coached by Bill Self, the 2016 squad was coached by Shaka Smart and the 2012 and 2014 squads were coached by Billy Donovan.

The top four finishers in the U18 Americas tournament qualify for the 2023 U19 World Championships in Hungary.

The U18 FIBA Americas tournament is the qualifier for the U19 World Championships. The U18 Tournaments are played in even years with the world tournaments occurring in the ensuing odd years. The top four finishers in the Americas qualify for Worlds, which will be held in Hungary in 2023. The head coach for the U19 teams has generally been different than the head coach of the U18 qualifying team, except for when Donovan coached the 2012 U18 team and the 2013 U19 team.

The United States has won gold at nine of 11 FIBA Americas U18 Championships and eight of 15 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cups.

The United States’ most recent 12-man U19 squad included four future first-round draft picks, two second-round draft picks, a likely draft pick in the 2023 draft and four players who will continue to play Division I ball next season. About half of the 2018 roster committed to a college prior to playing in the U18 tournament. Self coached Quentin Grimes on the U18 team and also at Kansas. Smart coached Jarrett Allen, James Banks and PJ Washington on the U18 team and also at Texas.

The 2016 roster included future stars like Trae Young, Michell Porter Jr, Mo Bamba, Jarett Allen, Kevin Huerter, Markelle Fultz and Hamidou Diallo.

All-time U18 rosters include Chris Bosh, Kyrie Irving, Grant Hill, Carmelo Anthony and others.

Boyle has 16 years of head coaching experience at the DI level, including the last 12 years at Colorado. He is second in all-time wins at Colorado with 254 and has the five most-winningest seasons in school history. He’s produced nine of the school’s 13 20-win seasons.