Deon Thompson was named to the USA Men's U19 Basketball Team which will be competing in the FIBA U19 World Championships later this month. According to Seth Davis at SI.com, Thompson is ready to take over for Brandan Wright in a big way:
Thompson, meanwhile, is benefiting from the work he put in to get his body into shape. As a high school sophomore in Torrance, Calif., Thompson weighed nearly 300 pounds. He got himself down to 250 for the start of his freshman season. Since the season ended, he put himself on a more efficient diet, hit the weights and is down to 235. In Dallas, Thompson showed off some terrific post moves and consistently made turn-around jump shots out to 15 feet. With Brandan Wright now in the NBA, Thompson appears well-poised for a breakout season in Chapel Hill.
In their first game against the Chinese Senior National Team, Thompson had a decent outing with 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals in 18 minutes.
Update: Inside Carolina has a Deon Thompson stat tracker. Next game is on July 5th versus Africa.