Tulane to represent USA in 2023 World University Games

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane University men’s basketball will represent the United States at the World University Games from July 28 to August 8 in Chengdu, China, the athletic department announced on Friday.

There are 17 countries sending a men’s basketball team to compete in the games this year including the United States represented by Tulane. The other countries that will be represented in men’s basketball include Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brazil, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, South Korea, South Africa, and Taiwan. In the preliminary round, the USA Team will compete in a pool that includes Japan, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

“Earning this invitation is a great honor and tremendous opportunity,” said Ben Weiner Director of Athletics Chair Troy Dannen. “The educational and cultural benefits of international participation in the World University Games will serve as an incredible once in- a- lifetime experience.”

With the earliest version in 1923, in Paris, the modern-day World University Game, both the summer and winter versions, have been held every two years since 1959. The United States first participated in the basketball competition in 1965. The summer games in Chengdu, originally scheduled for 2021, have been postponed twice due to Covid-19. Men’s basketball in Chengdu is one of 16 sports in which the United States will compete against approximately 8,000 student-athletes from up to 120 countries. The Games will be broadcast to more than 100 countries/regions, drawing over 300 million viewers.

“We’re excited to take our program to China this summer,” said Tulane head coach Ron Hunter. “We’ll have the chance to compete against players from all over the world and that experience will be vital as we prepare for the 2023-24 season.”

The Green Wave was selected by the United States International University Sports Federation (US-IUSF) to represent the United States in the World Games and is only the fifth NCAA men’s basketball team to do so, joining Northern Iowa (2007), Kansas (2015), Purdue (2017) and Clemson (2019).

“We are very excited that the Tulane University Men’s Basketball Team will be representing the United States in this summer’s World University Games,” said Dan Guerrero, President of United States International University Sports Federation. “This once in a lifetime opportunity to represent our country is a life changing international competitive and cultural experience that will never be forgotten.”

The tournament will be played under current Federal International Basketball Association (FIBA) rules with some of the biggest differences being four 10-minute quarters and a 24-second shot clock.