By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times
Cameron Blankenship, of Birmingham’s Ramsay High School, has been selected by Student Athlete World to represent the United States in the Pyrenees Basketball Cup and International Sporting Competition in Barcelona, Spain on June 10.
Student-athletes are chosen for the team based on a combination of athletic ability as well as their academics ability and academics, leadership ability and character.
“This is a dream come true,” Blankenship told The Birmingham Times. “I did not know I could do something like this. I’ve watched pro athletes represent the USA and I thought that was so cool. When I was told I had made the top 50 prospects list in December I was happy, and that would have been good enough for me.”
Blankenship, 17, a rising senior at Ramsay, was named recently for the final 11-person roster with players from across the U.S. including Arizona, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
“When I received notice that I had been selected I really was happy,” he said. “But when the actual USA red, white and blue uniform arrived I knew it was real, and I was super excited and I couldn’t stop smiling. It had my name on it. How can you not be excited?”
He added, “We watch our role models and guys we look up to represent the USA. Now I get to be a part of that.”
His father, Birmingham lawyer Lucien Blankenship, said the family is understandably proud.
“We have always taught Cameron the importance of hard work and the rewards that follow,” Lucien said. “He works hard athletically and academically and this is a realization of his dedication on the court. Words can’t express how proud we are of this win because he gets to represent himself, our family, Birmingham and his country.”
