Sept. 30, 2013
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley has been selected to serve as a court coach for the 2013 USA Basketball Women’s National Team mini-camp in Las Vegas, Oct. 4-6. It is Staley’s second selection as a court coach in addition to her three-year tenure as an assistant coach on the Senior National Team, which included gold medals in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“USA Basketball has been an important part of my career, and the opportunity to work with the best women’s basketball players in our country as we start preparing for the 2016 Olympics is exciting,” Staley said.
The mini-camp marks the beginning of USA Basketball’s defense of the FIBA World Championship title and will be used to identify athletes for the 2013-16 USA National Team pool. Training camp at the Cox Pavilion practice gym on the UNLV campus will commence at 10 a.m. (PDT) on Oct. 4 and run through Oct. 6. A team function kicks off the weekend on Oct. 3.
Chosen by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Steering Committee, the five court coaches, which include Doug Bruno (DePaul), Pokey Chatman (Chicago Sky), Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx), Jennifer Rizzotti (Hartford) and Staley, were selected to work with 2013-16 USA National Team head coach Geno Auriemma (Connecticut). Due to her team’s participation in the WNBA Finals, Reeves will be unable to attend the camp.
Thirty-three players have accepted invitations to the mini-camp: Jayne Appel (San Antonio Silver Stars), Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), DeWanna Bonner (Phoenix Mercury), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun), Elena Delle Donne (Chicago Sky), Skylar Diggins (Tulsa Shock), Stefanie Dolson (University of Connecticut), Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Lindsey Harding (Los Angeles Sparks), Bria Hartley (University of Connecticut), Briann January (Indiana Fever), Glory Johnson (Tulsa Shock), Jantel Lavender (Los Angeles Sparks), Kayla McBride (University of Notre Dame), Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx), Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (University of Connecticut), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks), Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks), Cappie Pondexter (New York Liberty), Danielle Robinson (San Antonio Silver Stars), Odyssey Sims (Baylor University), Breanna Stewart (University of Connecticut), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), Alyssa Thomas (University of Maryland), Courtney Vandersloot (Chicago Sky), Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx), Monica Wright (Minnesota Lynx) and Sophia Young (San Antonio Silver Stars). Those players from the Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream will not attend the training camp due to their participation in the WNBA Finals.
The USA Women’s National Team program, which owns an 80-1 record in major international play since 1996, has won five straight Olympic gold medals, three of four FIBA World Championship gold medals and has been ranked No. 1 in the world since FIBA launched its point ranking system after the 2002 World Championship. The team will compete in the 2014 FIBA World Championship and, if the USA qualifies, the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as well as additional USA training camps and exhibition games.
Staley was part of four of the Olympic gold medals – three as a player (1996, 2000, 2004) and one as an assistant coach (2008). She received her first USA Basketball coaching assignment as an assistant to the 2006 USA World Championship Team and was later asked to remain on board through the 2008 Olympics. With Staley on the sideline in 2006-08, the USA National Team posted a 32-2 record. She also served as head coach for the 2007 USA Pan American Games Team that claimed gold with a perfect 5-0 record.
