USF seniors Nehemias Morillo and Angel Nunez have been selected to play on the inaugural Latin America Select Team that will showcase their talents during this week’s Final Four festivities in Houston, Texas.
The team is made up of 13 individuals from Latin American countries that play on NCAA teams or International Basketball Federations. The squad will participate in an autograph session on Friday before a team practice. On Saturday they will divide into two teams and play a game during Fan Fest at the George R. Brown Convention Center at 1 p.m. Later that day, they will attend the NCAA semifinals and be recognized during one of the two games.
Morillo, from Santiago, Dominican Republic, averaged 8.7 points for the Bulls this season. He finished as the team’s second-best 3-point shooter at 29.6 percent. His best game was a 20-point outing against Tulane when he was 7-of-11 from the field.
Nunez is from Washington Heights, N.Y., but his family hails from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He averaged 9.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Nunez scored a season-high 19 points two times. One of those 19-point outings came with 11 rebounds in the Bulls’ 71-66 win over East Carolina in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championship.
"This Latin America Select team announcement represents another step forward in FIBA's mission to create one global basketball community, unite and grow the popularity of our sport. The Final Four is one of the great basketball spectacles in the United States and the creation of this team allows us a chance to highlight the best collegiate players from Latin America," said FIBA Americas Executive Director Alberto Garcia in a press release.
2016 Latin America Select Team Roster
| Chris Ortiz, Kent State University, Puerto Rico |
| Rafael Maia, University of Pittsburgh, Brazil |
| Cezar Guerrero, Fresno State, Mexico |
| Nehemias Morillo, University of South Florida, Dominican Republic |
| Angel Nunez, University of South Florida, Dominican Republic |
| Luis Escoto Bran, Federation of El Salvador, El Salvador |
| Michael Carrera, University of South Carolina, Venezuela |
| Anthony Perez, University of Mississippi, Venezuela |
| Amilcar Serrano, Federation of El Salvador, El Salvador |
| Adrian Diaz, Florida International, Cuba |
| Patricio Garino, George Washington University, Argentina |
| Fernando Sosa Villarreal, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Mexico |
| Juan Carlo Sandoval, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Mexico |