Rosters set for USA Basketball U18 National Team Trials

Connecticut-bound Brianna Stewart of Cicero-No. Syracuse High School, North Syracuse, New York, a three-time gold medalist in developmental international competition and the 2011 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year, headlines a group of 26 top athletes named Thursday to participate in USA Basketball's 2012 U18 National Team Trials. (Photo courtesy USA Basketball.)

Four returning gold medalists highlight the roster for the 2012 USA Basketball Women's U18 National Team Trials, including 2011 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year Breanna Stewart (Cicero-North H.S. /North Syracuse, N.Y.), who will attend the University of Connecticut next fall, headline the 26 athletes who have accepted an invitation to attend the 2012 USA Basketball Women's U18 National Team Trials. Invitations to attend the trials were issued by the USA Basketball Junior National Team Committee chaired by Sue Donohoe, executive director of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

The only high school athlete on the 2011 USA Women’s Pan American Games Team, Stewart is the most internationally experienced player attending trials. The unanimous 2012 National High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Stewart teamed up last summer with forward Morgan Tuck (Bolingbrook H.S./Bolingbrook, Ill.), who is also Connecticut-bound, to help lead the 2011 USA U19 World Championship Team to a gold medal in Chile.

Future Texas Longhorn Imani Stafford (Windward School/Los Angeles, Calif.) was also named to the USA U19 squad following its exhibition game against Brazil; however, she withdrew from the team due to injury.

In 2010 Bashaara Graves (Clarksville H.S./Clarksville, Tenn.), who heads to Tennessee next season, joined Stafford, Stewart, and Tuck as members of the USA U17 World Championship Team that captured the gold medal with a perfect 8-0 mark at the inaugural FIBA U17 World Championship. In 2009, Graves and Stewart teamed up on the USA U16 National Team that won the gold medal and, with it, the USA’s berth in the 2010 U17 Worlds. Tuck was named to the 2009 USA U16 National Team, but was injured and withdrew.

In addition to the four who have already earned gold representing Team USA in international competition, three others bring USA Basketball trials experience to the table. Moriah Jefferson (Texas Home Educators Sports Association/Glenn Heights, Texas), another future Connecticut Husky, was a finalist for the 2011 USA U19 team and also attended trials for the 2009 U16 and 2010 U17 teams. Alexis Prince (Edgewater H.S./Orlando, Fla.), who heads to Baylor next year, participated in both the 2009 U16 and 2010 U17 trials, and future Texas Aggie Courtney Williams (North Shore H.S./Houston, Texas) attended the U16 trials in 2009.

The talent-rich U18 trials roster also includes nine 2012 WBCA High School All-Americans and five who earned 2012 WBCA All-America honorable mention. Leading the pack of WBCA All-Americans is Stewart, the 2012 WBCA National High School Player of the Year, along with Graves, Jefferson, Prince, Stafford, Tuck and Williams, plus Rutgers-bound Kahleah Copper (Prep Charter School/Philadelphia, Pa.) and Michaela Mabrey (Manasquan H.S. / Belmar, N.J.), who will play for Notre Dame next year. Candice Agee (Silverado H.S./Victorville, Calif./Penn State); Brianna Butler (Nazareth Regional H.S., N.Y./King of Prussia, Pa./Syracuse); Faith Randolph (Good Counsel H.S./Derwood, Md./University of Virginia); Brittney Sykes (University H.S./Newark, N.J./Syracuse); and Shilpa Tummala (St. Mary's Catholic H.S./Phoenix, Ariz./Harvard) were honorable mention WBCA All-Americans.

McDonald’s also selected Stewart as its 2012 National Girls High School Basketball Player of the Year and she was joined on the 2012 McDonald’s All-American Team by Agee, Butler, Copper, Graves, Jefferson, Mabrey, Prince, Stafford, Sykes, Tuck and Williams.

Headlined by Stewart, who earned the 2012 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year Award, as well as the 2012 Naismith Trophy and Morgan Wootten Player of the Year award in addition to the aforementioned honors, and is a two-time Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Player of the Year, eight athletes were named by Gatorade as their state’s Player of the Year, including Graves (Tennessee), Mabrey (New Jersey), Prince (Florida), Tuck (Illinois) and Tummala (Arizona), as well as Minnesota Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year Rebekah Dahlman (Braham Area H.S./Braham, Minn./undeclared) and Tyler Scaife (Hall H.S./Little Rock, Ark./undeclared), who took Gatorade honors for the state of Arkansas. Both Dahlman and Scaife are in the class of 2013.

Trials to select the 12-member USA squad from the 26 athletes chosen to participate in the trials will be held May 19-21 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. After arriving in Colorado on May 18, the participants will get on the court on May 19 at 8:30 a.m. (all times listed are MDT) and will hold their second session starting at 3:45 p.m. Following two sessions on May 20, at 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., the trials participants will compete in one final session on May 21 at 8:30 a.m. It is anticipated that the team will be announced at 11:00 a.m. on May 21.

The team will regroup at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., for its first training camp from May 28-June 2. The USA squad will then return to the USOTC for its final training camp Aug. 3-12, prior to traveling to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to compete in the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, from Aug. 15-19, in hopes of securing a berth in the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women (dates and site TBD).

The FIBA Americas U18 Championship will feature eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, with the top three finishing teams qualifying for the 2013 FIBA U19 Worlds. Players eligible for this competition must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1994.

University of Miami head coach Katie Meier will serve as head coach of the U18 squad, while collegiate head coaches Nikki Caldwell of Louisiana State University and Kelly Graves of Gonzaga University will act as assistant coaches.

“The committee is excited about this group of players as they are all highly skilled and accomplished,” said Donohoe. “With all the talent that will be at trials, we are going to have a difficult time selecting the team. The committee is responsible for not only selecting young women who are talented on the playing floor but also for selecting young women who will contribute in a positive manner as part of the team representing the United States. We are really looking forward to these trials, as we know that the players invited to the trials are the types of players who will positively represent USA Basketball in its quest for gold this summer at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship.”

In addition to Donohoe, the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee includes NCAA appointees Joanne Boyle (University of Virginia), Coquese Washington (Penn State University) and Connie Yori (University of Nebraska). The athlete representative is current University of Notre Dame associate coach Beth Cunningham (1999 USA Pan American Games Team member).

2012 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team Trials Roster

Source: USA Basketball News Release