Myles Turner Helps Team USA Win Seventh Gold Medal

By Anderson Boyd in Blog, Sports on June 25, 2014 at 11:50 am | No Comments

Good news for Rick Barnes and Texas basketball: Incoming University of Texas freshman and basketball wunderkind Myles Turner can now add “gold medal winner” to his list of accolades.

The Bedford, Texas native posted five points, five rebounds, and four blocked shots as Team USA thrashed Canada 113-79 Tuesday evening in the gold medal game of the 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championship. Turner’s game-high four blocks brings his total number of blocked shots to 18 in the five-game tournament, shattering the previous Team USA competition record of 13 set in 1994.

As Texas Sports reports, Turner had one heck of a tourney:

During the tournament, Turner started all five games and averaged 7.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and a team-best 3.6 blocks in just 15.4 minutes per contest. He converted 13-of-19 (.684) field goals, including 1-of-1 from three-point range, and 9-of-12 (.750) free throws. Nine of his 24 total rebounds came off the offensive glass.

With this win, Team USA went 5-0 and collected a seventh gold medal all-time at the tournament. The American team won the championship in 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010, and 2012.

Myles took to Twitter to celebrate, posting a selfie of him and his gold medal, with the caption “GUESS WHOS AN OFFICIAL GOLD MEDAL WINNER!!!” followed by seven American flag emojis. With a tweet like that, it’s impossible not to be excited for him.

 

Tags: basketball, Myles Turner, sports, Team USA, U18 Championship