As far as athletic accomplishments go, few surpass the honor of representing one’s home country on the field of play.

As tryouts for the USA U-19 World Championship basketball team conclude today, rising sophomore forward Trey Thompkins will soon find out if he earned the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to play for the USA at the 2009 FIBA U-19 World Championships July 2-12 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Thompkins, who was named to the SEC All-Freshman team while averaging 12.6 points per game last season, was among 17 of the country’s most talented basketball players at age 19-and-under who were invited to try out for one of 12 roster spots at the National Team Trials, held in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“It’s a great blessing to be able to try out for the team,” Thompkins said. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do so I just plan to go out there and try to make the best of it.”

Joining Thompkins at the U.S. Olympic Training Center is fellow Georgia native Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest, Duke’s Seth Curry, and Connecticut’s Kemba Walker, who was named the MVP of the 2008 FIBA America’s Championship, among others.

For Thompkins, getting the invitation to try out has provided a welcome change to his summer plans.

“I’d just planned on taking classes and training and working out with my teammates, but I have this opportunity now so I’ll try and make the team,” Thompkins said.

Thompkins’ invitation comes as no surprise to Georgia head coach Mark Fox.

“He’s a big kid with good hands and good offensive skills,” Fox said. “His ability to play inside and out gives him a great chance to make the team and be successful once he does.”

In preparation for tryouts, Thompkins said he has spent time working on his conditioning and further developing his post game.

Because of his training this offseason, Thompkins enters tryouts with an air of confidence and a willingness to work hard to impress Team USA head coach Jamie Dixon and the rest of the coaching staff.

“I can score, shoot, rebound and block shots. If they need me to handle the ball, I can,” Thompkins said.

“Basically I’m going to try and do whatever I need to do to let them know that I can be an asset to the team.”

Thompkins was already Georgia’s leading rebounder in 2008-09, and regardless of the outcome of the tryouts, both Thompkins and Fox said the experience will go a long way toward establishing Thompkins as a serious scoring threat and leader on the court for the Bulldogs next season.

“It’ll show me new ways to score,” Thompkins said.

“I’ll carry over this experience of having played with high-caliber players at tryouts and hopefully overseas to help me and my team next season.”

Added Fox: “I think this experience will be a real positive for Trey. I think he’ll take full advantage of this unique and special opportunity to play for his country.”