USA Basketball Selects 21 For Women�s National Team
This group of seasoned veterans and rising stars, headlined by three-time Olympic gold medalist Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets) and two-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Smith (Detroit Shock), will train together over the next two years as the U.S. attempts at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games and then defend its three consecutive Olympic gold medal winning streak. It is expected that players selected to compete on USA Senior National teams in the 2007 and 2008 international competitions will come from the USA Basketball Senior National Team pool.
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The USA's next chance to qualify for the 2008 Olympics will be at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, slated for Sept. 25-29 in Valdivia, Chile. The gold medalist at that tournament will earn a berth to the Beijing Olympic 12-nation field. In addition to the USA, teams participating in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship will be Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico. Should the United States not return home from Chile with the gold medal, there will be one final chance to qualify for the Olympics at the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament slated for June 9-15 at a site to be determined.
The complete USA Women's Senior National Team training plans, which will include
domestic and international training camps and competition through 2008, will
be announced at a later date.
Heading the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team through 2008 is WNBA
Seattle Storm head coach and four-time U.S. Olympic Team member Anne Donovan,
who was on the 1980, 1984 and 1988 squads as a player and was an assistant coach
for the 2004 team. She will be assisted by 2006 WNBA Coach of the Year Mike
Thibault of the Connecticut Sun and collegiate head coaches Gail Goestenkors
of Duke University (N.C.) and Temple University's ( Pa. ) Dawn Staley.
"The parity at the top level of the women's international game is at an
all-time high, and we recognize that our national team program needs to be adaptable
in order to put the U.S. in the best possible position to re-claim the gold
medal in Beijing and beyond," said USA Basketball President Val Ackerman.
"By including a larger number of players in the program, we hope to create
a more competitive training environment for the team, as well as accelerate
the development of the young players who we will count on to continue our winning
tradition in the future."
"The Committee feels very strongly about this group of players as we continue
to move forward with our USA Senior National Team Program," said Committee
chair Rene� Brown, WNBA chief of basketball operations and player relations.
"We are not just looking to the next two years and our goal of reclaiming
the gold medal in Beijing, we also have identified some of the top young candidates
who will take the torch from our veteran leadership, from players like Sheryl,
Katie and Tina, and run with it well into the future. The Committee feels that
this is a very strong mix of players, from the young up-and-comers to international
veterans. If you look back, that's what USA Basketball has been doing for decades
-- the torch has been passed from Pat Summitt and Anne Donovan to Teresa Edwards
and Katrina McClain. They have lent their leadership to Lisa (Leslie), Sheryl
and Dawn, who are in the process of passing it along to our next generation
of players."
"I think continuity is so important in the development of the USA Senior
National Team," said Donovan. "Although we don't have the benefits
of extensive training as in the past, we are looking to maximize the time that
we are together. By identifying a pool of players we'll be able to train extensively
and evaluate the best fit for our National Team. The more that our staff and
our players are able to train and play together, the better our USA National
Team will be, come competition time.
"When you look at the make-up of this group, we have a lot of youth. What
a benefit it is for them to be able to train with our veteran players, to learn
from them on the court and off the court."
The USA Senior Team's 21 members own a combined 11 Olympic and eight World Championship
gold medals, as well as numerous medals from other international competitions
as all 21 members have donned a USA Basketball uniform in the past. The list
also includes a pair of USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year award winners,
including Augustus (2003) and Taurasi (2006).
All 17 professional players on the roster have been named as a WNBA All-Star
and 14 have earned either All-WNBA first or second team honors at least once.
Bird, Catchings, Smith, Swoopes and Thompson were named to the WNBA All-Decade
Team, while Taurasi was an honorable mention. Three of the seven WNBA All-Star
MVPs are on the list, including Douglas (2006), Swoopes (2005) and Thompson
(2000); as well as three of the last seven league MVPs in Swoopes (2000, 2002,
2005); five of the last seven WNBA Defensive Players of the Year in Catchings
(2005, 2006) and Swoopes (2000, 2003, 2004); and three of the last four WNBA
Rookies of the Year in Augustus (2006), Catchings (2002), Ford (2003) and Taurasi
(2004).
Each of the four collegiate players were unanimous all-conference first team
selections following the 2006-07 season and have been mentioned for 2007 National
Player of the Year and All-America honors. Further, Davenport earned her third
consecutive Big Ten Conference Player of the Year award, Paris was named the
2007 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and Parker collected 2007 Southeastern
Conference Player of the Year honors.
Host China and 2006 FIBA World Championship gold medalist Australia have earned
automatic berths to the 2008 Olympic women's basketball tournament. Five additional
teams will punch their ticket to Beijing at the 2007 FIBA zone championships
as the gold medalists in each of the FIBA zones (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe
and Oceania) qualify to compete in Beijing.
Teams finishing in second, third and fourth place at the 2007 FIBA Americas
tournament will have one final chance to earn a spot in Beijing's 12-nation
field at the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Those three nations along
with nine other national teams from around the globe who did not claim gold
at the remaining FIBA zones, including two from Africa (silver and bronze medalists),
two from Asia (silver and bronze medalists), four from Europe (second through
fourth place finishers) and one from Oceania (silver medalist), will compete
for the final five Olympic slots at the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team program has evolved over the
past decade ever since the historic 11-member 1995-96 USA Senior National Team
spent 10 months traveling the globe in preparation for the 1996 Olympic Games.
The program is a proven success. Since the '95-96 team took to the court in
Oct. 1995, USA senior teams have compiled a 144-9 (.941) exhibition slate, hauled
in three Olympic (1996, 2000, 2004) and two World Championship (1998, 2002)
gold medals, one World Championship bronze (2006), and claimed an overall Olympics
and Worlds record of 50-1 (.980).
In addition to Brown, the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee
is comprised of athlete representatives Jennifer Azzi, a 1996 Olympic
gold medalist and two-time World Championship gold medalist, and five-time Olympian
Teresa Edwards; representing the NCAA is University of Tennessee head
coach Pat Summitt; and appointed by the WNBA are New York Liberty vice
president and general manager Carol Blazejowski, Indiana Fever chief
operating officer and general manager Kelly Krauskopf, Minnesota Lynx
chief operating officer Roger Griffith and Los Angeles Sparks general
manager Penny Toler.
2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Roster
| NAME | POS | HGT | WGT | DOB | WNBA TEAM | COLLEGE | HOMETOWN |
| Seimone Augustus | F | 6-1 | 179 | 4/30/84 | Minnesota Lynx | Louisiana State | Baton Rouge, LA |
| Alana Beard | G/F | 5-11 | 160 | 5/14/82 | Washington Mystics | Duke | Shreveport, LA |
| Sue Bird | G | 5-9 | 150 | 10/16/80 | Seattle Storm | Connecticut | Syosset, NY |
| Swin Cash | F | 6-1 | 162 | 9/22/79 | Detroit Shock | Connecticut | McKeesport, PA |
| Tamika Catchings | F | 6-1 | 167 | 7/21/79 | Indiana Fever | Tennessee | Duncanville, TX |
| Jessica Davenport | C | 6-5 | 191 | 6/24/85 | n/a | Ohio State | Columbus, OH |
| Katie Douglas | G/F | 6-0 | 165 | 5/07/79 | Connecticut Sun | Purdue | Indianapolis, IN |
| Cheryl Ford | F | 6-3 | 191 | 6/6/81 | Detroit Shock | Louisiana Tech | Horner, LA |
| Sylvia Fowles | C | 6-5 | 200 | 10/06/85 | n/a | Louisiana State | Miami, FL |
| Taj McWilliams-Franklin | F/C | 6-2 | 184 | 10/20/70 | Los Angeles Sparks | St. Edward's | Augusta, GA |
| DeLisha Milton-Jones | F | 6-1 | 185 | 9/11/74 | Washington Mystics | Florida | Riceboro, GA |
| Deanna Nolan | G | 5-11 | 144 | 8/25/79 | Detroit Shock | Georgia | Flint, MI |
| Courtney Paris | C | 6-3 | 250 | 9/21/87 | n/a | Oklahoma | Piedmont, CA |
| Candace Parker | F/C/G | 6-4 | 172 | 4/19/86 | n/a | Tennessee | Naperville, IL |
| Cappie Pondexter | G | 5-9 | 160 | 1/07/83 | Phoenix Mercury | Rutgers | Chicago, IL |
| Katie Smith | G | 5-11 | 174 | 6/4/74 | Detroit Shock | Ohio State | Logan, OH |
| Michelle Snow | C | 6-5 | 158 | 3/20/80 | Houston Comets | Tennessee | Pensacola, FL |
| Sheryl Swoopes | F | 6-0 | 145 | 3/25/71 | Houston Comets | Texas Tech | Brownfield, TX |
| Diana Taurasi | G/F | 6-0 | 172 | 6/11/82 | PhoenixMercury | Connecticut | Chino, CA |
| Tina Thompson | F | 6-2 | 178 | 02/10/75 | HoustonComets | Southern California | Los Angeles, CA |
| Lindsay Whalen | G | 5-8 | 150 | 5/9/82 | Connecticut Sun | Minnesota | Hutchinson, MN |
| Head Coach: Anne Donovan, SeattleStorm | |||||||
| Assistant Coach: Gail Goestenkors, Duke University (N.C.) | |||||||
| Assistant Coach: Dawn Staley, Temple University ( Pa.) | |||||||
| Assistant Coach: Mike Thibault, Connecticut Sun | |||||||
2007-08 USA Baskettball Women's Senior National Team Members' Major International
Event History:
Olympic gold medalists: Bird (2004), Cash (2004), Catchings (2004), Milton-Jones
(2000), Smith (2000, 2004), Swoopes (1996, 2000, 2004), Thompson (2004), Taurasi
(2004).
FIBA World Championship gold medalists: Bird (2002), Catchings (2002), McWilliams-Franklin (1998), Milton-Jones (1998, 2002), Smith (1998, 2002), Swoopes (2002).
FIBA World Championship bronze medalists: Augustus (2006), Beard (2006), Bird (2006), Catchings (2006), Ford (2006), Milton-Jones (2006), Parker (2006), Smith (2006), Snow (2006), Swoopes (2006), Thompson (2006), Taurasi (2006).
FIBA U21 World Championship gold medalists: Augustus (2003/tournament MVP), Beard (2003/all-tournament), Pondexter (2003), Whalen (2003).
FIBA U19 World Championship gold medalists: Catchings (1997), Paris(2005).
FIBA U19 World Championship bronze medalists: Beard (2001/all-tournament), Pondexter (2001), Taurasi (2001/all-tournament).
FIBA Americas U20 Championship gold medalists: Beard (2002), Paris (2006), Pondexter (2002), Whalen (2002).
FIBA Americas U18 Championship gold medalists: Beard (2000), Paris (2004), Parker (2004), Pondexter (2000), Taurasi (2000).
FIBA Americas U18 Championship silver medalist: Catchings (1996).
Basketball Female Athlete of the Year: Augustus (2003), Taurasi (2006).