Katie Feenstra, spending time with her family in Grand Rapids, was having a nice, quiet off-season. She intended to keep it that way through the holidays before heading overseas to play in an as-yet-undetermined European league beginning in January.

Then Reneé Brown, USA Basketball vice president for senior women, called the Detroit Shock center and ruined those plans. She invited Feenstra to join the USA Basketball Select Team, which will compete in the FIBA World League Tournament in Ekaterinburg, Russia, Oct. 22-27.

“Actually it happened really fast,” Feenstra said Thursday, when USAB announced the Select Team members. “They called and asked if I was interested and if I could make time. It had happened so fast I didn’t know anything about it, so I had kind of already made plans.”

Feenstra quickly altered those plans so she can play in Russia, beginning with a four-day training camp Oct. 17, and also stateside for a few games in the subsequent USA College Tour, Oct. 31-Nov. 15. The shortly thereafter 25-year-old (her birthday is Nov. 17) will be making her first appearance with the national team. “It kind of caught me off guard,” she said. “I had no idea they would even consider asking me.”

Brown, who chaired the U.S. team selection committee and is also the WNBA chief of basketball operations and player relations, saw Feenstra play several times during the Shock’s run to the 2007 WNBA Finals. She made significant strides in the second half of her first season with the Shock. “Obviously I was a work in progress this season, and will be next season as well,” she said.

After starting the summer slowly as a reserve, Feenstra averaged 9.0 points as a starter in 12 regular-season games. She credits the Shock coaching staff for aiding her development. “Having Bill (Laimbeer) and Rick (Mahorn) and Cheryl (Reeve) work with me before and after practice really helped,” she said. “Just their patience really helped me become the player I wanted to be this season.”

Though she had only four double-doubles – three of which came in the last month of the season – she still led all WNBA centers in the statistical superlative, illustrating a lack of depth at the position that could put her in USA Basketball’s long-term plans. At 6-foot-8, Feenstra is the tallest member of the 11-player squad (which includes Shock teammate Katie Smith), but she’s not getting her hopes up yet. As a backup to WNBA All-Star Taj McWilliams-Franklin, she likely will split time with another center who would have been a national team long shot a year ago, 2007 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year Janel McCarville.

“Right now I’m seeing where it goes. There are still unbelievable post players playing my position. Lisa Leslie hasn’t come back and Cheryl Ford will hopefully be back as well, so you know the chances of making the [2008 Olympic] team against them is going to be hard,” she said. “But that’s why I’m going to go Russia and hopefully do the college tour as well and see what I can do.”

Since she never anticipated involvement with USA Basketball, Feenstra won’t burden herself with expectations now. The tournament field includes professional teams from six different countries. “I want to play well, of course, but just going out and playing” is the goal, she said. “You’re not expecting anything too high or too low. I just want to go out and play and see that level [of competition]. It’s going to be really intense.”

Sounds like a plan.