Mason Collins, a 2028 five-star wing who heard from Syracuse basketball after the contact period opened for his class on June 15, has won his second gold medal over the past two summers with USA Basketball junior national teams.
On Sunday, the 6-foot-6 Collins helped the United States U17 national team claim the gold medal at the 2026 FIBA World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey. Team USA has thoroughly dominated this international event.
Since the first FIBA U17 World Cup in 2010, Team USA is a remarkable 58-0 and has won the gold medal in every iteration of the event. In Sunday's gold-medal game, the U.S. knocked off Serbia, 107-81, before an announced crowd of 3,544.
Syracuse basketball recruit Mason Collins is a gold-medal winner for the second straight summer.
At the 2026 FIBA World Cup, as Team USA went 7-0 overall, Collins averaged 14.9 minutes, 7.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.1 steals per contest while connecting on 53.5 percent from the field, 21.4 percent from beyond the arc and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line. He was second on the U.S. roster in steals per game.
In June 2025, meanwhile, Collins averaged 10.0 points, 3.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game as the USA Basketball U16 national team won gold at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup in Juarez, Mexico.
Team Canada finished in 6th place at the 2026 FIBA World Cup, sporting a 4-3 mark. Three players on Canada's roster have picked up a scholarship from the new Orange staff under first-year head coach Gerry McNamara.
They are 2028 five-star wing Isaiah Hamilton out of the Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., 2028 five-star point guard Liam Mitakaro out of CIA Bella Vista in Phoenix and 2028 four-star forward Isaiah Clarke, who also plays for CIA Bella Vista.
As for Collins, a top-10 national prospect, he garnered interest from the former 'Cuse staff under then-head coach Adrian Autry. Once college coaches could initiate direct communication with 2028 prospects on June 15, Collins heard from McNamara and his assistants.
A standout at The Tatnall School in Wilmington, Del., Collins averaged 17.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.1 blocks and 2.9 steals per encounter in the 2025-26 campaign. He received an honorable mention nod for the MaxPreps sophomore All-America teams. Collins previously played at the Christ School in Arden, N.C.
While many teams are showing interest in him, Collins' early offer sheet includes schools such as Florida State, Notre Dame, Georgetown, N.C. State, Villanova, Virginia and South Carolina. This spring and summer on Nike's EYBL circuit, he is playing for the 16U team of the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Team CP3, where so far he's averaging 10.0 points, 6.3 boards and 4.1 assists per game.
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