Karl-Anthony Towns won't join Dominican Republic for World Cup

Kentucky freshman center Karl-Anthony Towns announced Wednesday that he will not play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Kentucky freshman center Karl-Anthony Towns announced Wednesday that he will not play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Towns has played with the Dominican Republic in previous years, but Kentucky reportedly did not support him partaking in the event, which begins Aug. 30 in Spain.

Towns will play in Wednesday night's scrimmage between the Dominican Republic and Team USA in New York City.

More: Oh look a (probably) inaccurate college basketball hate map

Towns is a consensus top-10 player in the class of 2014 and one of four members of Kentucky's incoming recruiting class, which is ranked No. 2 in the country by the recruiting website Rivals.com.

The Wildcats faced the Dominican Republic in their recent trip to the Bahamas.

As much as it hurts to not be playing in Spain, I am a STUDENT-athlete first and committed to my studies at the University of Kentucky #BBN

— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) August 20, 2014

- Chris Johnson