Briscoe to miss U19 championships

Just a day after making USA U19 FIBA World Championship team, UK freshman Isaiah Briscoe suffered a concussion that will prohibit him from competing in the FIBA U19 World Championships.

USA Basketball announced on Friday that Briscoe -- who left Thursday's practice in Colorado Springs, Colo., with a head injury -- had a concussion and would be replaced on the roster by guard Justin Bibbs.

Isaiah Briscoe's father, George Briscoe, called Cats Illustrated to update his son's condition.

"You know Isaiah, he just dove on the floor going after a ball and hit his head," George Briscoe, Isaiah's father, said Thursday night. "It was just a hustle play and he was shaken up. At worst maybe a slight concussion.

Kentucky's other newcomers, Skal Labissiere, Charles Matthews and Mychal Mulder have already arrived on UK's campus. George Briscoe said his son would got to Kentucky earlier than planned if the concussion forced him to leave Team USA.

"It's a win-win," George Briscoe said. "He's fine either way. Worst case scenario he has to go to Kentucky and start preparing for the season with his teammates. That's a bad thing? He'll be fine either way."

Briscoe was one of 12 players to make the final roster for the U19 team. Last year Briscoe shined on the U18 team, going 5-0, winning a gold medal and averaging 8.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and four assists.

"I feel very bad for Isaiah," U19 coach Sean Miller of Arizona said in a release. "He had a tremendous attitude and was one of our overall best players and one of our leaders of the team. It is very, very unfortunate to see him get injured in what was really a two-on-two drill. But the good news is I know he'll recover and be fine; the bad news is he won't be able to play on our team."