COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo — The USA Women’s U16 National Team has finalized its leadership with three coaches added to the staff.
Two-time gold medalist USA head coach Sue Phillips of Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) will lead the 2021 squad and thrilled to take the reins.
“It’s a tremendous honor and privilege to have the opportunity to coach USA Basketball again,” Phillips said. “I am extremely grateful and can’t wait to get to work.”
Tom McConnell, the head women’s basketball coach at Division II Indiana University Pennsylvania (IUP), has been added as an assistant coach along with Sophia Witherspoon of Fort Pierce (Fla.) Central.
The USA team will compete at the 2021 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, where the top four finishing teams will qualify for the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup. The eight competing teams include: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States.
The U16 National Team trials are expected to feature approximately 20 athletes invited by the USA Basketball Women’s Developmental National Team Committee and 10 athletes who were selected through an application process.
“We are happy for Adrienne and Katie in their new positions,” said Carol Callan, chair of the USA Basketball Women’s Developmental National Team committee, which is responsible for selecting the USA coaches and athletes, and the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Director.
“The committee has selected an experienced coach with Sue, and Tom brings experience in the women’s game and a record of success. We are confident they and Sophia not only will work well together, they also will be able to inspire this group of young athletes during trials, training camp and the competition.”
Phillips is no stranger to coaching the young Americans. In 2013 USA, she guided the U16 team to gold at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship and the 2014 USA U17 World Cup Team to gold at the FIBA U17 World Cup.
Currently in her 28th year as the girls basketball coach and math teacher at Mitty, she owns an amazing 722-132 career record (as of May 18) and has led teams to six California Interscholastic Federation state championships. Mitty’s season runs through June after the pandemic pushed it back into the spring.
In 2018, she was named National High School Coach of the Year by Naismith and the WBCA. In 2019, Phillips served as the McDonald’s All-American head coach and received the Gatorade Coaching Excellence Award.
In 2019-20, Phillips led Mitty to the Northern California Regional title and was set to compete in the CIF Open Division state finals before the COVID-19 pandemic brought an end to their season. Mitty currently is playing in its 2021 girls basketball season and is a regular in the Blue Media Elite 25 national girls’ rankings.
McConnell will serve in his first USA Basketball coaching assignment with the team.
“It’s just an amazing opportunity to be able to work with some of our country’s finest coaches and most outstanding players, what an honor,” said McConnell, who was previously a Division I head coach. “My thought is, like they always say, this is a dream come true, but this is so amazing that I think this is something that I could never even have dreamed of. It’s just a blessing.”
The shakeup in the U16 coaching staff this spring when Adrienne Shibles, who previously had been announced as head coach no longer is able to take part after taking the head coaching position at Dartmouth. Katie Gearlds, who was announced as an assistant coach, could no longer fulfill that obligation to USA Basketball after becoming the Purdue associate head coach.
From USA Basketball Communications
