The Virgin Islands Basketball Federation named its 14-member team that will compete in the CentroBasket Tournament in Mexico this week.
The team will leave the territory Monday and the tournament starts on Wednesday. The V.I. squad is filled with pros along with present, past and future college players.
Pro players Leon Trimmingham and Calvert White will lead the way for the territory, which is hoping for at least a fourth-place finish. The top four teams will earn a berth in the Tournament of Americas in Argentina.
Trimmingham, a 6-7 forward, is a well-traveled overseas pro. He is presently competing in the Puerto Rico Superior League.
White, a Charlotte Amalie High School graduate, is a two-time slam-dunk champion in Holland.
Present college stars Cuthbert Victor, Jabahri Brown, Kevin Sheppard and Steven Hodge join White and Trimmingham.
Victor, a sophomore-to-be at Murray State, has been a member of the V.I. national team since age 16. Brown, the 6-feet-11 center, transferred to the University of Oklahoma after having a stellar freshman season at Florida International. Kevin Sheppard plays guard at Jacksonville State University and Steve Hodge is a guard on the Edward Waters College team.
Past college players include Alphonso Niles, Jameel Heywood, Leroy Blyden and Gracen Averil.
The future college stars consist of Akeem Francis and Jerome Gumbs. Both, Gumbs and Francis transferred from Virgin Islands high schools to play varsity ball on the U.S. mainland.
The VI team will take the court minus several of its marquee names including Carl Thomas, Jaja Richards, David Vanterpool and Raja Bell. Bell and Vanterpool are NBA players, who have committed to competing with the team if the Virgin Islands advance the Tournament of Americas, a tournament that will attract teams from all over the North, Central and South America.