COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—After four days, nine on-floor sessions, three roster cuts and some ultra-competitive basketball, 46 remaining candidates for the USA Basketball U17 World Championship team anxiously wait for the bell to toll at 10:00 a.m. MST Monday. While it’s not exactly midnight, 12 athletes will get their ticket to the ball punched and join Head Coach Sue Phillips and her staff in representing the red, white and blue in the Czech Republic June 28 through July 6.
The athletes still in contention are what’s left of a beginning group of 155 that took the floor Thursday night at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Of that initial line-up 37 were here at the invitation of USA Basketball. The other 118 were participating as applicants in the third “open trials” scenario offered to hopeful players across the country. Of the remaining 46, nine applicants join the entire list of invitees in waiting for the final roster announcement.
Also within that group is the complete roster of the Gold Medal 2013 USA Basketball U16 team that claimed top honors in the FIBA America’s U16 Championship for Women. Top performers like Katie Lou Samuelson (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Arike Ogunbowale (Milwaukee, Wisc.) and Asia Durr (Douglasville, Ga.) have been pretty convincing in laying claim to a spot on this year’s roster. Several others have positioned themselves for another tour of duty for Uncle Sam but it’s a safe bet that there will be quite a few changes as well.
It’s challenging to “pick” a roster even after taking in every moment of the trials because of the unique nature of international basketball. Women’s National Team Director Carol Callan and the USA Basketball Women’s Developmental National Team Committee have a difficult job interpreting how our best athletes and their games will translate into a successful combination in both FIBA America’s competition as well as World Championships in multiple age groups. In the U17 group that effort has led to Gold in the first two World Championships held for the age group as well as a combined 16 – 0 record over the course of both events. If you’re looking for more information on dates, pools and bracket schedules of this year’s U17 World Championship in the Czech Republic follow the link below
http://www.usab.com/womens/u17/schedule.html
Trials are also being held for this year’s U18 team that will represent the USA in the FIBA America’s Championship for Women to be held right here in Colorado Springs later this summer. For coverage on those players named in Monday’s U17 announcement as well as the U18 roster set to be named Monday evening, check back with Blue Star Media.
Mark Lewis is a national evaluator and photographer for Blue Star Basketball as well as the lead columnist for Blue Star Media. Twice ranked as one of the top 25 Division I assistant coaches in the game by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), he logged 25 years of college coaching experience at Memphis State, Cincinnati, Arizona State, Western Kentucky and Washington State. Lewis serves as a member of the prestigious McDonald’s All-American selection committee as well as the Naismith College Player and Coach of the Year committees.

Latest Articles
-
Christopher Lawlor
/ 2 days agoMOMENT OF TRUTH: No. 1 Montverde Academy (FL), No. 5 Westtown (PA) and No. 6 IMG Academy (FL) will decide Blue Star Media Elite 25 girls’ basketball rankings final order at Chipotle
BENSALEM, Pa. – The moment of truth has arrived for the Blue Star Media...
-
Christopher Lawlor
/ 3 days agoSteve Turner is new boys’ basketball head coach at Montverde Academy (FL), leaving Gonzaga (DC) after successful 21-year tenure
BENSALEM, Pa. – Montverde (Fla.) Academy has found their man to author the next...
-
Boys HS Rankings
/ 3 days agoNo. 23 Great Crossing (KY) leaps into Blue Star Media Elite 25 boys’ basketball rankings; Chipotle Nationals ready to captivate the nation with 12 mega games
BENSALEM, Pa. – The state tournaments are over. They ended last weekend in the...
-
Christopher Lawlor
/ 1 week agoSILENCE: No movement in Blue Star Media Elite 25 girls’ basketball rankings; No. 14 Incarnate Word Academy annexes eighth straight Missouri title
BENSALEM, Pa. – This was one of the quieter weeks for the Blue Star...