ATHENS, Ga. —- Justin Abson, a rising senior on the Georgia men’s basketball team, will take part in tryouts for the Jamaican National Team that will compete in an upcoming qualifying tournament for the 2027 FIBA World Cup.

Abson, a 6-9 forward from Coconut Creek, Fla., is among 16 players taking part in the training camp from July 29-August 5 at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla. Selected players will comprise the Jamaican team that will compete in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Americas Pre-Qualifying event in Ciudad Obregón, Mexico on Aug. 8-10.

“I really just want to go and be a sponge,” Abson said. “Being a young guy playing FIBA with some NBA players and other pros, I want to get to their level. I’m going to ask a lot of questions and study how they prepare from the morning to when they go to sleep. I’m just looking to be a sponge.”

Abson averaged 2.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 28 games with Georgia’s NCAA Tournament team last season. He scored a season-high nine points at No. 1 Auburn and was the only Bulldog all season to solely lead Georgia in assists, blocks and steals in the same game in an upset of No.3 Florida in Athens. Abson played his first two years of college basketball at Appalachian State, where he ranked among the top-20 nationally in blocked shots as both a freshman (No. 19 at 2.2 bpg) and a sophomore (No. 5 at 2.8 bpg).

The four-team pre-qualifying tourney will feature round robin competition between Jamaica, Barbados, Costa Rico and Mexico at ITSON Arena in Ciudad Obregón. The top two teams will advance to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Americas Qualifiers, which will be held in six windows between November 2025 through March 2027. The 2027 FIBA World Cup contested from Aug. 27-Sept. 12 in Doha, Qatar.

Abson, whose mother Cheryl McDonnough is a native of Jamaica, previously represented the country as a member of the 3×3 national team at the 2022 Caribbean Games in Les Abymes, Guadeloupe.