June 29, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley headlines the list of four Gamecocks who will represent the United States in international competitions next month. Prior to their departure this week, the quartet of Staley, Alaina Coates, Tiffany Mitchell and A’ja Wilson met with local media to talk about their upcoming experience with USA Basketball.

Staley is the head coach of the FIBA U19 World Championship team, which features Wilson. The Gamecocks’ rising sophomore was the youngest player on the U19 team that won a gold medal at the 2013 FIBA World Championships and will be looked at for leadership as the 2015 team looks to repeat as champions. WIlson was the MVP of the 2014 FIBA U18 Americas Championship last summer, which secured the Americans’ spot in this summer’s event. Staley and Wilson leave on Tuesday to being training camp at the United States Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. The U19 team will compete in a round-robin tournament in Alicante, Spain, July 11-13 as a tune-up for the FIBA U19 World Championships July 18-26 in Chekhov, Russia.

Coates and Mitchell were selected to represent the U.S. in the Pan American Games. It will be Coates’ first time in a USA Basketball uniform, while Mitchell is looking to add to her gold medal collection, having led the U.S. to the title in the 2015 FIBA 3×3 World Championships. The Gamecock duo leaves later this week for training camp at the USOTC ahead of the competition in Toronto, Canada, July 16-20.

Stay tuned to GamecocksOnline.com for competition schedules and game updates throughout the FIBA World Championships and the Pan American Games.