COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 7, 2012) -- Thirty-four of the nation's top athletes age 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1994), including 13 who previously have helped USA Basketball earn gold in international competition, have accepted invitations to participate in the 2013 USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team trials, USA Basketball today announced. Trials to select the 12-member USA squad will be held May 16-19 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. Invitations to the trials were issued by the USA Basketball Junior National Team Committee.
"This group has a nice nucleus with some former gold medal winners in the mix and some new candidates that will allow us to field a very competitive team," said committee chair Jim Foster, who has been a member of nine different USA Basketball coaching staffs.
"I think it's a fantastic, dynamic, diverse group for international play," saidUSA and University of Miami head coach Katie Meier. "The committee understands the important parts of what it takes to win internationally. There's a lot of great and versatile size in this group, some really dynamic players who can do a lot of special things from 20-feet in. This is a really exciting, athletic group who are also very, very skilled. That's a real sign for the growth of our game throughout the country, that the U19s have this level of skill.
"This is going to be a very competitive trials. We've got a lot to play for, and the young ladies who have already won gold have already proven how competitive they are. But, I think there will be another sense of, absolutely, nothing is given. There's no automatic 'you're going to make the team.' That's obvious. We don't even have enough slots for everyone who's won a gold medal, and then you look at the rest of the talent who's coming in hungry for their first chance to win gold. We're going to see a very, very high level of competition and probably some of the best scrimmages we've ever seen."
Six members of the 2012 USA U18 National Team that earned the USA its 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship berth are returning to compete for a spot on the 2013 USA U19 World Championship Team - as is the coaching staff. Assisting Meier and the U19 squad are collegiate head coaches Nikki Caldwell of Louisiana State University and Kelly Graves of Gonzaga University. Additionally, American University head coach Matt Corkery, University of Wisconsin head coach Bobbie Kelsey and University of Tulsa head coach Matilda Mossman will serve as court coaches during the trials.
Accepting invitations to participate in the trials were: Jordan Adams (Southern California / Irvine, Calif.); Candice Agee (Penn State / Victorville, Calif.); Jillian Alleyne (Oregon / Fontana, Calif.); Ameryst Alston (Ohio State / Canton, Ohio); Shacobia Barbee (Georgia / Mufreesboro, Tenn.); Amber Campbell (Northwood Academy / Charleston, S.C.); Oderah Chidom (Bishop O'Dowd H.S. / Oakland, Calif.); Nia Coffey (Hopkins H.S. / Minneapolis, Minn.); Kendall Cooper (St. Anthony's H.S. / Carson, Calif.); Rebekah Dahlman (Braham Area H.S. / Braham, Minn.); Kaela Davis (Buford H.S. / Suwanee, Ga.); Amber Deane (Dayton / Lathrup Village, Mich.); Lia Galdeira (Washington State / Kamuela, Hawaii); Bashaara Graves (Tennessee / Clarksville, Tenn.); Gabby Green (St. Mary's College H.S. / Oakland, Calif.); Tiaria Griffin (Georgia / Monticello, Miss.); Linnae Harper (Whitney Young H.S. / Chicago, Ill.); Moriah Jefferson (Connecticut / Glenn Heights, Texas); Alexis Jones (Duke / Irving, Texas); Brittney Martin (Oklahoma State / Syracuse, Utah); Stephanie Mavunga (Brownsburg H.S. / Indianapolis, Ind.); Xylina McDaniel (North Carolina / Columbia, S.C.); Sydney Moss (Florida / Union, Ky.); Kelsey Plum (La Jolla Country Day / Poway, Calif.); Jordan Reynolds (Central Catholic H.S. / Portland, Ore.); Tyler Scaife (Little Rock Hall H.S. / Little Rock, Ark.); Ieshia Small (Florida State University H.S. / Tallahassee, Fla.); Breanna Stewart (Connecticut / North Syracuse, N.Y.); Brittney Sykes (Syracuse / Newark, N.J.); Morgan Tuck (Connecticut / Bolingbrook, Ill.); Brianna Turner (Manvel H.S. / Pearland, Texas); Courtney Walker (Texas A&M / Edmond, Okla.); Marqu'es Webb (Hoover H.S. / Montgomery, Ala.) and A'ja Wilson (Heathwood Hall H.S / Hopkins, S.C.).
Stewart is the most experienced USA Basketball alum attending trials. The MVP of the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship and member of the five-member 2009 All-FIBA U19 World Championship Tournament Team, Stewart has helped USA squads earn gold at the 2010 U17 and 2011 U19 FIBA World Championships, as well as the 2009 U16 and 2012 U18 FIBA Americas Championships. Further, the 2011 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year was the lone high school athlete on the 2011 USA Pan American Games Team.
In addition to Stewart; Agee, Cooper, Graves, Jefferson and Tuck were members of the 2012 USA U18 National Team that captured the FIBA Americas U18 Championship to secure a berth to this summer's competition.
Also winning gold for the USA in 2012 were Chidom, Davis, Harper and Turner as members of the 2012 USA U17 World Championship Team; while Davis and Turner earned a second gold medal last summer at the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship.
Returning from the most recent USA U19 squad that captured gold at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship are Adams, Jones, Stewart and Tuck.
Davis, Harper and Mavunga teamed up to help the U.S. win gold at the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. Davis and Harper competed later that summer in the inaugural FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship and after falling to Italy in overtime of the semifinal with just two healthy players on the court and being forced to forfeit in the bronze medal game due to a lack of players, were awarded an honorary bronze medal by FIBA.
In 2010 Adams, Graves, Stewart and Tuck were members of the gold medal-winning USA U17 World Championship Team; while Jones captured gold that summer at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship.
Adams, Graves and Stewart earned their first gold medal with USA Basketball at the 2009 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
In addition to the 13 gold medalists attending the USA U19 trials, 10 athletes have participated in a USA Basketball trials previously, including Alson, Coffey, Dahlman, Green, McDaniel, Plum, Reynolds, Scaife, Small and Sykes.
The USA squad, which is on a quest to capture a fifth-consecutive gold medal at the U19 Worlds, will compete in the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship, hosted by Lithuania from July 18-28 in Klaipeda and Panevezys. The team will regroup for training on July 1 at the USOTC prior to traveling to Europe for the competition.
