Taylen Kinney, a 6‑foot‑2 guard from Newport, Kentucky, has been named to the 2026 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team, marking his first official selection to a USA Basketball roster.
The team will be led by head coach Anthony Grant, with assistants Matt Langel and Nate Oats, and will travel to Leon, Mexico, for the FIBA U18 Men’s AmeriCup, which runs from June 1‑7.
A Rising Star’s Journey
Kinney comes to the national team after a breakout high‑school season in which he averaged 18.8 points, 6.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game. He earned the distinction of 2026 McDonald’s All‑American and refined his skills in the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta.
Although this is his first senior national team call‑up, Kinney is no stranger to USA Basketball, having attended minicamps for the Men’s Junior National Team in 2024 and 2025, as well as the U17 and U19 training camps in those years.
Tournament Format and Group Play
Group A of the AmeriCup will feature the United States, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. The U.S. opens against Argentina at 6:30 p.m. CT on June 1, meets Mexico at 9 p.m. CT on June 2, and closes the group stage versus Brazil at 4 p.m. CT on June 3. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals on June 6, with the championship game scheduled for June 7. Play‑in games are set for June 5.
USA Basketball, a program that has captured 11 gold medals in 13 editions of the event — including seven consecutive titles since 2010 — will stream every game live on YouTube.com/FIBA. The tournament also serves as a qualifier for the 2027 FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup in Pardubice, Czechia, where the top four teams will earn a berth.