Romeo Weems

Future DePaul prospect Romeo Weems helped lead the 17 and Under USA national team to the gold medal tonight in the FIBA World Cup in Argentina.

Weems scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while shooting 6 of 10, in the 95-52 win over France in the gold medal game.

Team USA was dominant going 7-0 en route to the championship. It was the fifth straight gold medal for the U17 team in international play. The USA team averaged 107 points per game and outscored their opponents by an average of 53.7 points per game. The U17 team has never been defeated in international competition. The closest margin of victory this year was 32 points in a 93-61 victory over Serbia earlier this week.

“This team, from day one, I knew they could be special, and they certainly ended up being a special group,” said USA coach Don Schowalter. “They are probably as good as any U17 team that we have had, from a standpoint of how well they get along with one another. They are great teammates. They are very coachable. All of those things make a special team.”

Weems scored 12 points on six of 10 from the floor while grabbing nine rebounds in the gold medal win over France.

In the competition, Romeo averaged 8.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game. Weems shot 48 percent overall in the seven games.

It was the second straight year that Weems competed for Team USA. Weems competed last year on the U16 USA team that went 5-0 and won the 2017 FIBA U16 Americas Championship.

He averaged 7.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game en route to the world championship. Weems shot 61 percent from the floor in the five games

Weems, a 6-7 forward from New Haven, Michigan, verbally committed to DePaul for the 2019 recruiting class back in May.

DePaul head coach Dave Leitao attended the games in Argentina.