RUSTON – Former Louisiana Tech Men's Basketball great Kenneth 'Speedy' Smith is one of 12 athletes slated to compete for USA Basketball in the 2025 FIBA Men's AmeriCup, set to take place Aug. 22-31 in Managua, Nicaragua.
 
Smith will be making his USA Basketball debut, teaming up with Zach Auguste, Robert Baker II, Tyler Cavanaugh, Jack Cooley, Jarell Eddie, Langston Galloway, Jerian Grant, Elijah Pemberton, Jahmi'us Ramsey, Cam Reynolds, and Javonte Smart. 
 
One of the greatest point guards in program history, Speedy lettered from 2011 to 2015, leading the Bulldogs to three straight conference regular season titles and three straight NIT appearances.
 
The St. Petersburg, Florida native was the CUSA Player of the Year and AP All-America Honorable Mention as a senior in 2015.  He also earned 2014 CUSA Defensive Player of the Year and was a three-time First Team All-Conference selection.  He finished his LA Tech career as the school's leader in total assists (858) and total steals (258).
 
Speedy has been playing professionally over the last decade.  This past season, he played for Turk Telekom Ankara in the Turkish BSL in Turkey. 
 
The FIBA Men's AmeriCup features 12 teams distributed into three, four-team groups.  The top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-place teams, will advance to the quarterfinals. The eight advancing teams will be ranked 1-8 based on their final position in the Group Phase.  
 
The USA will hold training camp Aug. 12-18 in Miami, before traveling to Managua to open the tournament against Bahamas on Aug. 23 at 5:40 p.m. ET.  The USA will also face Uruguay (Aug. 24, 11:10 p.m. ET) and Brazil (Aug. 26, 9:10 p.m. ET) in pool play. 
 
The 2025 FIBA Men's AmeriCup will stream live on Courtside 1891.  With an account, USA games will be free to viewers in the United States. 
 
The inaugural FIBA Men's AmeriCup was held in 1980 and has been held biennially since 1993.  The USA has won gold seven times and earned bronze in 2022.