Vernon Carey Jr. has already won one gold medal in Argentina.

Now he's looking for another.

The 6-foot-10, 230-pound Carey led the 2017 USA Men’s U16 National Team to an unblemished 5-0 record en route to the FIBA Americas U16 Championship gold medal last June in Formosa, Argentina.

Carey went for 19 points, five rebounds, and four assists as the USA rolled to a 111-60 win over Canada in the gold-medal game.

Now he's in the mix to make the USA team that will compete in the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup that will be played June 26-July 8 in Rosario and Santa Fe, Argentina.

"Yeah, I had a good time [last year]," Carey said by phone this week from the USA Basketball training facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "It's different. It just makes you appreciate the USA when you get back."

Carey — along with his University School and Nike Team Florida teammate Scottie Barnes — was one of 18 finalists named this week and hopes to make the 12-man final roster that was to be named on Thursday, the day of the NBA Draft.

Carey said some of his teammates who weren't in Argentina are already asking how it will be venturing to South America.

"Yeah, they're asking," he said. "I told them it's different.

"They have meals already cooked for us in the hotel, like chicken and rice and fries sometimes," he added. "But once you win the gold medal I think the USA program took us out to eat steak or something."

So there's an added incentive.

Thirteen of the 18 finalists play on the Nike EYBL circuit, which wraps up with Peach Jam next month, and USA head coach Don Showalter says it's a very talented group.

“This was probably the best U17 camp I’ve been involved with,” said Showalter, who has been head coach of every USA U17 World Cup team since the event started in 2010. “I think overall, the depth one through 30 was outstanding. I thought the energy level was really high for all five practices.

“The finalists are all very versatile, which is what we need from an international standpoint,” Showalter added.

Carey has enjoyed going up against fellow big man Isaiah Stewart of La Lumiere (IN) and the Albany City Rocks.

"We've been going up against each other," he said. "I feel like we're making each other better. If we both make the team, we'll both be a good duo."

Carey and Stewart are considering some of the same schools for college. Stewart has a final list of 10, while Carey is down to five: Duke, Miami, North Carolina, Michigan State, and Kentucky.

After the summer he plans to take some official visits.

"I think once the college season starts up, I'm probably going to take a visit to Duke and Kentucky [for their Midnight Madness events] in October," he said.

As for the other schools, "I don't have anything planned right now but I'll probably visit Miami and UNC since I already visited Michigan State earlier this year."

Many of those coaches figure to make the trip to Argentina to watch Carey, Barnes, Stewart, and the others on the team.

After the Argentina trip, Carey plans to head straight to Peach Jam, which runs July 11-15 in North Augusta, South Carolina – which you can watch live on FloHoops.

"Yeah it's going to be really busy," he said. "I'll try and push through it. I've already been through it so I feel like I can adjust to it better."

As for Peach Jam, Nike Team Florida went 8-8 during the regular season while battling some injuries. If everyone's healthy, they could be a threat to win it all.

"I feel like we can do pretty well," Carey said. "I feel like our team was kind of struggling during the sessions but I feel like we can come together and win it."

Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who runs ZAGSBLOG.com and contributes to The New York Times. Follow Adam on Twitter.