University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Diaz Graham Twins Among 16 Invited to Spain U20 Team Tryouts
6/8/2022 2:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH – Pitt incoming freshmen Guillermo Diaz Graham and Jorge Diaz Graham are among 16 players invited to compete for one of 12 spots on the Spain U20 National Team this summer.
"This is going to be a great experience for us. We are going to be practicing with teammates that are the best of Spain, so that's always huge, and we have a lot of friends there," said Guillermo Diaz Graham. "Last year was my first time with the national team in official competition, and it was a really great experience. I met a lot of guys there, a lot of good friends now."
"As a player, I grew up. I got more confident in myself," he continued. "I know the last time I went there, it was in summer, too, but before there, I really didn't practice a lot because I was on holidays. But now we have been three weeks here working out hard with Garry (Christopher), with Coach Tim (O'Toole), and I think we are in really good shape. That's going to be a really good thing because I remember last time it was hard the first week because I was out of shape, and it's really intense because you have 20 days to prepare a championship, so you do two practices of three hours a day, and now we are more prepared for it."
The 16 invitees will train for 20 days in Spain and Portugal before a final 12-member team is selected to compete in the FIBA U20 European Championship July 16-24 in Montenegro.
"This is an opportunity to just keep improving, that's the whole thing always. Going out, being one month (of) practices with the best players in Spain," said Jorge Diaz Graham. "It's going to be hard for us but also a good thing. I think it's going to help me improve my confidence because playing against good players is always a good thing. Training with the national team is a big thing because not every player can have the opportunity to do that. And once you're out there, you have to work for that. It's an opportunity that's unique so you need to take advantage of it."
"Starting workouts in college with new teammates, new coaches has been hard but it is a great warmup [for camp]," he added. "I'm a forward, I like to say I'm a forward because the way I move, so playing with and practicing with big guys like John [Hugley] that play inside has helped me extend my capacities and make me more confident about my inside game, too."
Guillermo led the Spanish U18 National Team to a 5-0 record at the 2021 FIBA Europe Challengers tournament in Skopje, Macedonia last summer. He averaged 11..0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in five starts, including a 16-point, 5-rebound, and 6-block effort in the final game win over Serbia, 68-50. He shot 55.6 percent from the field for the event, including 70.8 percent (17-of-24) on his two-point attempts.
Jorge will be looking to make the National team roster for the first time.
The Diaz Graham brothers signed with Pitt in early May and have been in Pittsburgh taking summer classes and training since the middle of the month.
"This is going to be a great experience for us. We are going to be practicing with teammates that are the best of Spain, so that's always huge, and we have a lot of friends there," said Guillermo Diaz Graham. "Last year was my first time with the national team in official competition, and it was a really great experience. I met a lot of guys there, a lot of good friends now."
"As a player, I grew up. I got more confident in myself," he continued. "I know the last time I went there, it was in summer, too, but before there, I really didn't practice a lot because I was on holidays. But now we have been three weeks here working out hard with Garry (Christopher), with Coach Tim (O'Toole), and I think we are in really good shape. That's going to be a really good thing because I remember last time it was hard the first week because I was out of shape, and it's really intense because you have 20 days to prepare a championship, so you do two practices of three hours a day, and now we are more prepared for it."
The 16 invitees will train for 20 days in Spain and Portugal before a final 12-member team is selected to compete in the FIBA U20 European Championship July 16-24 in Montenegro.
"This is an opportunity to just keep improving, that's the whole thing always. Going out, being one month (of) practices with the best players in Spain," said Jorge Diaz Graham. "It's going to be hard for us but also a good thing. I think it's going to help me improve my confidence because playing against good players is always a good thing. Training with the national team is a big thing because not every player can have the opportunity to do that. And once you're out there, you have to work for that. It's an opportunity that's unique so you need to take advantage of it."
"Starting workouts in college with new teammates, new coaches has been hard but it is a great warmup [for camp]," he added. "I'm a forward, I like to say I'm a forward because the way I move, so playing with and practicing with big guys like John [Hugley] that play inside has helped me extend my capacities and make me more confident about my inside game, too."
Guillermo led the Spanish U18 National Team to a 5-0 record at the 2021 FIBA Europe Challengers tournament in Skopje, Macedonia last summer. He averaged 11..0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in five starts, including a 16-point, 5-rebound, and 6-block effort in the final game win over Serbia, 68-50. He shot 55.6 percent from the field for the event, including 70.8 percent (17-of-24) on his two-point attempts.
Jorge will be looking to make the National team roster for the first time.
The Diaz Graham brothers signed with Pitt in early May and have been in Pittsburgh taking summer classes and training since the middle of the month.
Highlights | Pitt 80, Penn State 46
Sunday, December 21
The Jeff Capel Radio Show | 12.4.25
Thursday, December 18
Pitt Men's Basketball | Postgame vs. Binghamton | 12.17.25
Thursday, December 18
Postgame vs. Binghamton | Jeff Capel, Barry Dunning, Jr., Nojus Indrusaitis
Wednesday, December 17