Nik Khamenia, a five-star recruit in the class of 2025, is one of the incoming rookies as part of the No. 1 overall recruiting class that Jon Scheyer generated in the class of 2025.
It's now been reported by 247Sports insider Adam Rowe that Khamenia will be trying out for the USA Basketball U19 National Team next week in Colorado Springs, CO. The five-star recruit will be one of 33 athletes from both the high school and collegiate levels competing for a spot on the roster.
Training camp will begin on June 14th, and a final roster of 12 players will eventually be selected. It's expected that the set roster will be determined before the team leaves for the 2025 FIBA U19 Men's World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland.
However, this could potentially pose an issue for Khamenia's rookie season at Duke, as by trying out and potentially making the final roster, his arrival time in Durham could be much later than anticipated.
The FIBA Men's World Cup will run from June 28th to July 6th in Switzerland. If Khamenia makes the team, he'll be well behind his fellow Blue Devils in terms of getting offseason workouts underway.
Obviously, Khamenia will still be playing high-level basketball, so there's no worry that his skillset will experience any rust. But, for a team as young as the 2025-26 Blue Devils, getting as many reps as possible together is crucial for this program's success early on. Khamenia will be a key contributor for Duke as a freshman next season, and if he misses a big chunk of the summer, that could leave him falling behind his teammates.
Nonetheless, the elite wing recruit will still have plenty of time to get acclimated with his new teammates and will certainly sharpen his game even more playing in the World Cup, if he ends up making the final roster.
Khamenia finished high school as the No. 19 overall recruit and No. 4 small forward in the 247Sports Class of 2025 Composite Rankings. The Studio City, CA native will bring shooting, length, and defense to an already loaded Blue Devils roster for next season.