COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The names are in and now comes the hard part: earning a spot on the USA Women’s U16 Team.
The roster of athletes who accepted an invitation to trials for the U16 National Team features 16 participants who have taken part in at least one previous USA Basketball event and 17 athletes who are new to the fold.
Trials will take place May 23-27 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and open to applicant athletes.
Fourteen athletes are from the high school class of 2021:
Taylor Bigby (Centennial H.S./Las Vegas, Nevada), Sonia Citron (The Ursuline School/Scarsdale, N.Y.), Amari DeBerry(Williamsville South H.S./Buffalo, N.Y.), Sania Feagin (Forest Park H.S./Ellenwood, Ga.), DeDe Hagemann (Detroit Edison Public School Academy/Mount Clemens, Mich.), Bree Hall (Wayne H.S./Dayton, Ohio), Jillian Hollinshead (Holy Innocents Episcopal School/Powder Springs, Ga.), Okikiola Iriafen (Harvard-Westlake School/Woodland Hills, Calif.), Jada Malone (The Village School/Spring, Texas), Olivia Miles (Blair Academy/Phillipsburg, N.J.), Aaliyah Moore (Moore H.S./Moore, Okla.), Saylor Poffenbarger (Middletown H.S./Middletown, Md.), Payton Verhulst(Bishop Miege H.S./De Soto, Kan.) and Aaronette Vonleh (West Linn H.S./West Linn, Ore.).
Nineteen are from the high school class of 2022:
Janiah Barker (Tampa Bay Tech H.S./Panama City, Fla.), Lauren Betts (Grandview H.S./Centennial, Colo.), Shay Bollin(Bridgewater-Raynham Regional H.S./Raynham, Mass.), Sydney Bowles (Woodward Academy/Lithonia, Ga.), KK Bransford (Mount Notre Dame H.S./Cincinnati, Ohio), Ysabella Fontleroy (Kickapoo H.S./Springfield, Mo.), Timea Gardiner (Fremont H.S./Ogden, Utah), Aaliyah Gayles (Spring Valley H.S./Las Vegas, Nev.), Jennah Isai (Valley Vista H.S./Surprise, Ariz.), Ashlon Jackson (Hardin Jefferson H.S./China, Texas), Camille Jackson (Butler College Prep/Chicago, Ill.), Londynn Jones (Santiago H.S./Riverside, Calif.), Caroline Lau (St. Luke’s School/Westport. Conn.), Maya Nnaji (Hopkins H.S./Lakeville, Minn.), Ayanna Patterson(Homestead H.S./Fort Wayne, Ind.), Kiki Rice (Sidwell Friends School/Bethesda, Md.), Grace VanSlooten (Notre Dame Academy/Toledo, Ohio), Ashlyn Watkins (Cardinal Newman School /Columbia, S.C.) and Amauri Williams (North Little Rock H.S./North Little Rock, Ark.).
The invitations were issued by the USA Basketball Women’s Developmental National Team Committee, which is chaired by Carol Callan, USA Basketball Women’s National Team director.
“It is great to see so many athletes with USA Basketball experience among our youngest national team hopefuls, and we also have a good group of participants who will be taking part in their first USA Basketball event,” Callan said. “All of the athletes at trials will have the opportunity to improve their skill set, along with hoping to make the final roster, and we hope everyone takes advantage of the weekend.”
The finalists for the team are expected to be announced on May 27, and they will remain for training camp through May 31. The official 12-member USA roster is expected to be announced on May 31. Training camp will be held June 5-15, and the 2019 U16 FIBA Americas Championship will be played June 16-22 in Puerto Aysen, Chile.
