The 12-member basketball squad will compete in the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship, which will be held next week in Formosa, Argentina. The team will train today and tomorrow at Georgetown University before traveling to South America.

"It's a great honor to have the USA team jersey label on my chest," said Wayns, a senior point guard at Roman Catholic High. "This is the best accomplishment for me as a basketball player."

The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder was having an impressive summer even before attending the weeklong national team tryouts in Washington.

Wayns, 17, traveled to Portland, Ore., last month to play in a tournament with Team Reebok, the shoe company's select team.

The Mount Airy resident then stood out at the NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp at the University of Virginia and the Steve Nash Skills Academy in North Jersey.

Wayns' superior ability was on display during a sweltering June 19 morning at the NBAPA event. A few former NBA players and talent evaluators packed Virginia's practice gym to critique his play.

They asked themselves: What was there not to like?

He hit four picture-perfect three-pointers. His hypnotizing crossover dribbles fooled defenders. And his coast-to-coast trips began with steals and ended with crowd-pleasing assists.

"Maalik has what it takes to become an NBA point guard," said Dirk Minnifield, who witnessed the Villanova recruit's 16-point, seven-assist, five-rebound and four-steal performance in the game. "He's a pure point guard that sets the tempo. The league will always have a place for guys like that.

"He's better than that little point guard from Villanova that was drafted a couple of years ago," Minnifield said, referring to the Memphis Grizzlies' Kyle Lowry.

Minnifield should know.

The Seattle SuperSonics drafted him in 1983. The point guard out of Kentucky played five seasons in the NBA.

Minnifield isn't the only person impressed with the floor general.

Bob Gibbons, editor and publisher of All-Star Sports Publications, believes that Wayns can be a player like the New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul. Gibbons said Paul had unrealized potential.

"I never knew that Chris Paul was going to turn out to be an NBA all-star," Gibbons said.

For now, Wayns is content to be one of the nation's top high school players.

There's an outside chance that he will become Roman Catholic's first McDonald's all-American since the late Eddie Griffin in 2000.

Gibbons lists Wayns as the nation's second-best point guard in the Class of 2009.

Rivals.com rates him as the 19th-best recruit in the class. Scout.com lists him 25th.

While dominating opponents, Wayns averaged 22.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals last season. A varsity starter for the Cahillites since the 10th grade, he has 818 career points.

"He just understands the game," Gibbons said. "He is athletic. He is explosive."

He compared Wayns to North Carolina point guard Tywon Lawson, saying: "He has the quickness. He can score."

But Wayns isn't concentrating on scoring points this summer. In preparing for his freshman season at Villanova in 2009-10, he is focused on being a floor general.

"I know I can score in high school," Wayns said. "I know I can do other things. Now, I'm just running the floor and being a leader on the team, and being a vocal leader on my team. Stuff like that is what I'm working on."

He'll be getting plenty of opportunities to perfect his craft against top-notch international talent in the Americas Championship.

"I'm just trying to lead the team to the gold," Wayns said. "I'm going to play hard."