Argentina beat Mali 75-66 Friday morning in group round competition of the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup at Cooly Arena in Switzerland.
The key to Argentina’s win?
Power forward Tyler Kropp.
Kropp Keeps Cooking 👨🍳🇦🇷@tylerkropp_ puts up 24 pts, 9 rebs, 2 asts and 2 stls in Argentina's win over Mali.#FIBAU19 pic.twitter.com/isEO60gU1L
— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) July 1, 2025
Kropp, bound for Evanston in the fall to play for Northwestern coach Chris Collins, was just shy of a double-double Friday. The dual nationality athlete tallied 24 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals in the contest.
At 6-foot-7, Kropp is a three-star recruit from Olentangy Liberty High School in Powell, Ohio. He committed to the Wildcats in November. The power forward was ranked second-best recruit in Ohio, No. 31 at the position and No. 159 among all recruits, per 247Sports.
Kropp is joining the Wildcats at a solid time.
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Collins is building success in Evanston, and signed a contract extension in April keeping him on through the 2030 season. Collins has taken Northwestern to the NCAA Tournament three times, including the program's first back-to-back berths in 2023 and 2024, while advancing in each tournament.
The Wildcats finished second (2023) and third (2024) in the Big Ten, though notably struggled this past year, recording a 17-16 (7-13) record. Over the past four seasons, Northwestern has won 38 Big Ten Conference games, tied for the program's most in a four-year stretch since 1930-34.
Plus, Northwestern had its first selection in the NBA Draft since 1999 (Evan Eschmeyer, New Jersey Nets) as Brooks Barnhizer went 44th overall to reigning champions Oklahoma City.
If his performance at Eurobasket is any indication, Wildcat fans will be eager to have Kropp in purple this coming season. Kropp and Argentina will face Slovenia in the Round of 16 Tuesday at 5:15 a.m. E.T.