Gold medal, world experience energize basketball phenom Tony Wroten

Tony Wroten Jr. held his fists out, revealing the words "Truly Blessed" just above his knuckles.

Surrounded by stars, the two words tattooed onto the backs of his hands sum up the Garfield High School standout's mindset after the most recent stop in the 17-year-old's whirlwind summer.

His latest accomplishment since recovering from a knee injury that kept him from playing his junior high-school season was helping Team USA secure the gold medal at the first-ever U17 FIBA World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.

Back home on a downtown Seattle basketball court Tuesday afternoon, he flashed a fresh haircut — the numbers 206 shaved into the hair on the back of his head — and his gold medal. In less than 24 hours, he would board a flight to Las Vegas for another tournament, the latest stop on Wroten's wild world odyssey.

"Being out of the country was different," Wroten said as he bounced a basketball back and forth behind his back. "Food was different and everything, but it was a great experience. Coming home with the gold was great. When I came home, my whole state embraced me and my family."

While in Germany, Wroten's role was to come off the bench as a defensive stopper. He led the tournament in steals with 28, playing more than 20 minutes a game.

"He really played well," said Don Showalter, who coached the U17 team. "You never know, because he didn't play competitive basketball all last year. He came into training camp with, maybe, something to prove. He was a tremendous defender for us. He might be the best on-ball defender, along with Adonis Thomas, that we had on the team.

"I can't see where there's going to be too many defenders who are better on-ball defenders than Tony."

Showalter praised the way Wroten prepared for games and considered the teenager to be one of the team's leaders because of his mentality to do what was necessary to make the team successful.

"When we brought in our so-called second group, which is as good as our first group, that's where we really demoralized the international teams," Showalter said. "The teams we played were pretty good teams. They just couldn't keep up with us depth-wise.

"I was really impressed with their mindset, their unselfishness to win a gold medal. They put everything aside from a 'me' standpoint and concentrated on the 'we'. That's what we termed it. Let's go from 'me' to 'we' and they did it."

For Wroten, coming off the bench was a learning experience he said helped him continue his development as a person and a player.

"I can't pout or get an attitude, because they would sit me down," Wroten said. "It made me more mature. I learned to be a better person. Not just in basketball, but in general. Just to be a leader and never show when you're angry."

When the 6-foot-5 point guard left for Germany, he wasn't sure what to expect. He knew he wanted to bring the gold back for his country, city, family and friends, but he couldn't quite see the event as being on the same level as a LeBron James-led Team USA vying for a gold medal.

However, his mindset changed while standing on the podium as a world champion.

"It finally hit me when we won it," said Wroten, who averaged 8.4 points. "We were on the podium during our anthem. That's when it hit me. It's really great that we had the chance to win it and were the first ones to win it."

Another trip highlight? Wroten discovered a gummy bear that now ranks as one of his favorite candies. He has no idea when he'll return to Germany.

"It was great while it lasted," he said. "(Next time), hopefully, I'm in the NBA doing it in the World Championships like LeBron and them."

First, though, Wroten still has one more high-school season to play and a big decision to make — where he plans to play in college.

He said Washington and Kentucky are still the leaders at this point and that he could make the decision any time.

"You never know," he said. "It could be tomorrow or it could be next year on signing day. Stay tuned."

Mason Kelley: 206-464-8277 or mkelley@seattletimes.com