Going for Gold: USA Basketball Women’s U17 World Championship Team to open trial with 39 players for Czech Republic event

Taking part in their first USA Basketball trials will be: Kristine Anigwe (Desert Vista H.S./Phoenix, Ariz.); Kiah Gillespie (Capital Preparatory Magnet School/Hartford, Conn.); Kasiyahna Kushkituah (Saint Francis H.S./Alpharetta, Ga.); Calveion Landrum (La Vega H.S./Waco, Texas); Leaonna Odom (Mater Dei H.S./Los Alamitos, Calif.); Jada Underwood (John Horn H.S./Mesquite, Texas); Megan Walker (Monacan H.S./Chesterfield, Va.); and Jackie Young (Princeton Community H.S./Princeton, Ind.).

The 2014 USA Basketball Women’s U17 World Championship Team will be led by head coach Sue Phillips (Archbishop Mitty H.S./San Jose Cagers AAU, Calif.) and assistant coaches Mary Coyle Klinger (Rutgers Preparatory School, N.J.) and Brian Robinson (Bishop McGuinness H.S./Stealers AAU, N.C.).

In addition to the 39 athletes invited by the committee, USA Basketball also opened trials to applicant athletes. The deadline for applicant athletes was April 11, and the complete roster of players attending trials will be announced later this month.

Due to the large number of players participating in trials, the trials participants will be divided into two groups, and the players are expected to stay in two groups until after the fourth trials session on May 23. Roster reductions will not begin until after the second trials session.

Trials will begin with an orientation for parents and players at 4:15 p.m. (all times listed are MDT) on May 22, followed by a 5-8 p.m. skills session and maximum performance seminar. After a skills session and leadership seminar at 8:30-11:15 a.m. and a skills session and U.S. Anti-Doping seminar at 1-4 p.m. on May 23, the first trials session will be 5-8 p.m. that evening.

On May 24, players will participate in trials sessions at 8-11 a.m., 1-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m., followed by the final two trials sessions at 9-10:45 a.m. and 3:45-5:40 p.m. on May 25.

The 12-member roster for the 2014 USA U17 World Championship team is expected to be announced at 8 a.m. on May 26, and the USA Basketball Women’s Developmental National Team Committee will select the team. All players will return home on May 26.

The 2014 USA Women’s U17 World Championship Team will reassemble at the USOTC for training camp June 12-17, before the team departs on June 18 for an exhibition tournament in Nogent sur Seine, France, June 20-22.

From France, the team will travel on June 23 to the Czech Republic for the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship that will be played June 28-July 6. Looking to capture its third-straight FIBA U17 World Championship gold medal, the USA was placed into Group D, where it will face China on June 28, France on June 29 and Mali on July 1. Following the preliminary round, all teams will be seeded within their groups and will advance to the Round of 16, which will be played on July 2. Winners of the Round of 16 will advance to the July 4 quarterfinals. The semifinals will be played on July 5, and the gold medal game is set for July 6.

The trials roster features players from 17 states, including eight from Texas; six from California; four from Georgia; three apiece from Illinois and Maryland; two each from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia; and one player from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin.

At 6-foot-9, Mulkey is the tallest player on the roster, and at 5-foot-6, Dangerfield and Murray are the shortest.

Born on Jan. 29, 1997, Murray is the oldest, while Kushkituah, born on Aug. 16, 1999, is the youngest.

Samuelson was a finalist for the 2014 Naismith Girls High School Player of the Year, and Durr listed on the Watch List released on Dec. 13, 2013.

Despite their underclassman status, taking home Gatorade State Player of the Year honors were nine players, including Boykin (Maryland), Brown (Louisiana), Dangerfield (Tennessee), Dungee (Oklahoma), Durr (Georgia), Boley (Kentucky), Gillespie (Connecticut), Ogunbowale (Wisconsin) and Samuelson (California).

Additionally, Durr and Samuelson listed on the 2014 USA Today All-USA Girls Basketball first team.

Chaired by Callan, the 2013-16 USA Basketball Women’s Developmental National Team Committee includes NFHS appointees Jody Patrick (Flint Hill School, Va.) and Jill Rankin Schneider (Monterey H.S., Texas.); AAU appointees Bill Larson (North Tartan Basketball AAU, Minn.) and Sherri Pegues (GBL Cal Sparks AAU, Calif.); and athlete representative Yolanda Griffith, a 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medalist who has played on five USA Basketball teams.