USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Cup Team whittled down to nine regulars led by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, UConn-bound Azzi Fudd; five finalists invited to camp in July

DENVER — The USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Cup Team is taking shape with nine selections confirmed and five additional finalists that will fill out the roster.

The 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup will be contested Aug. 7-19 in Debrecen, Hungary. The final 12-member team will be named prior to the departure for Europe, where it will continue training for the FIBA U19 World Cup.

The nine 2021 USA U19 World Cup Team members are:

Lauren Betts (Grandview, High School, Centennial, Colo.); Sonia Citron (Ursuline School, New Rochelle, N.Y.); Caitlin Clark (Iowa); Sania Feagin (Forest Park High School, Ga.); Azzi Fudd (St. John’s College High School, Washington, D.C.); Diamond Johnson (North Carolina State); Te-hina Paopao (Oregon); Jewel Spear (Wake Forest); and Payton Verhulst (Bishop Meige High School, Shawnee Mission, Kan.).

The five finalists include Amari DeBerry (Williamsville South High School, N.Y.); Angel Reese (Maryland); Lauren Ware (Arizona); Maddy Westbeld (Notre Dame); and Jersey Wolfenbarger (Northside High School, Fort Smith, Ark.).

The 14 players will return to camp on July 19. Athletes eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens, born on or after Jan. 1, 2002.

“It was a very spirited camp and fun for the committee to watch,” said Jennifer Rizzotti, chair of the selection committee and Connecticut Sun president. “I feel like the players did a phenomenal job of playing for each other, which made the final selection really difficult.  Because some players were unable to attend the camp, our final decision to have finalists gives some flexibility to filling out the last roster spots.

From USA Basketball Communications