2023 World Cup (qualifying): Collet summons sixteen players

Vincent Collet had to do with the means at hand. This Friday, via Twitter, the list of sixteen summoned by the coach of the France basketball team was made official. A first list since the Summer Games of players responsible for playing two matches counting for qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, during the international window in November. Among the group of Olympic vice-champions at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games in Japan, there is only one man, namely point guard Andrew Albicy. In addition to the expected unavailability of the entire French contingent present in the NBA, the technical staff of the France team is, this time also, facing uncertainty. That of knowing if he will indeed be able to count on the residents of the clubs of ASVEL and Monaco. These two formations are engaged, this year, in Euroleague.

Wembanyama, training partner

Vincent Collet summons 16 players and 3 training partners for the first qualifying matches at the @FIBAWC 2023 ????

Les Bleus will face Montenegro and Hungary ⚔️

All the information on our website ???? https://t.co/DpDFoPJLIt#TeamFranceBasket pic.twitter.com/hcw1sFxZoI

– French Basketball Teams (@FRABasketball) October 22, 2021

A competition that does not pause during this famous international window. Consequently, there will be duplicates in the basketball calendar, between the meetings of these two clubs in the Euroleague as well as those of the France team. For the moment, in this list, there are three players from Villeurbanne, namely Elie Okobo, Paul Lacombe and William Howard, but also a Monegasque, in the person of Léo Westermann. In addition to these sixteen lucky winners, three other players will be responsible for being training partners. And among these, we find in particular the young nugget of tricolor basketball, namely Victor Wembanyama, now only 17 years old. On November 26, the French team will host Montenegro, near Pau, before continuing with a trip to Hungary on November 29.

The list of 16 selected players:
Andrew Albicy (leader, Gran Canaria / ESP), Alexandre Chassang (inside, Bourg-en-Bresse), Isaia Cordinier (back, Bologna / ITA), William Howard (winger, Villeurbanne), Mouhammadou Jaiteh (pivot, Bologna / ITA) , Axel Julien (leader, Bourg-en-Bresse), Lahaou Konaté (winger, Boulogne-Levallois), Louis Labeyrie (inside, Valence / ESP), Paul Lacombe (back, Villeurbanne), Nicolas Lang (back, Limoges), Amath M’Baye (inside, Karsiyaka / TUR), David Michineau (leader, Boulogne-Levallois), Amine Noua (inside, Andorra), Elie Okobo (leader, Villeurbanne), Terry Tarpey (back, Le Mans), Léo Westermann (leader , Monaco)
Training partners: Hugo Benitez (leader, Bourg-en-Bresse), Ismaël Kamagate (pivot, Paris Basket), Victor Wembanyama (indoor, Villeurbanne)