Croatia have named their 24-man squad for the upcoming FIBA World Cup of Basketball with all 12 of the players hat came close to landing a podium finish at last year’s Eurobasket involved.
A strong line-up includes Oliver Lafayette, who will compete with Dontaye Draper for the naturalised spot. 2014 NBA Draft pick Dario Saric will see this is a good warm-up for his upcoming season with Euroleague side Anadolu Efes and there’s also a call-up for 18-year-old Mario Hezonja.
Veterans Roko Ukic, Krunoslav Simon, Bojan Bogdanovic and Ante Tomic are included in the team.
The Croats finished in fourth at Eurobasket last year after losing out to Spain in the bronze medal game. They competed in the 2010 world championships in Turkey, where they narrowly lost 73-72 to Serbia in the eight-finals.
After their showing last year in Slovenia, Croatia will look to do well with a decent blend of youth and experience at their disposal.
Croatia will play in Group B at the World Cup, alongside Argentina, Greece, Philippines, Puerto Rico and Senegal.
Croatia preliminary squad for FIBA Basketball World Cup: Roko Leni Ukic, Dontaye Draper, Oliver Lafayette, Rok Stipcevic, Ante Delas, Krunoslav Simon, Bojan Bogdanovic, Mario Hezonja, Fran Pilepic, Ivan Ramljak, Luka Babic, Damjan Rudez, Dario Saric, Mario Delas, Damir Markota, Tomislav Zubcic, Leon Radosevic, Miro Bilan, Darko Planinic, Ante Tomic, Luka Zoric, Luksa Andric, Stanko Barac and Marko Ramljak.
