Boston, Henderson Finalists for U.S. AmeriCup Team
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina junior Destanni Henderson and sophomore Aliyah Boston are among 13 finalists for the 2021 USA Basketball Women’s AmeriCup Team. The finalists will return for a training camp that will begin on June 1, and the official 12-member roster will be named prior to the team’s departure for the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup June 11-19 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“It was one of the most competitive trials I’ve been a part of,” said Jennifer Rizzotti, chair of the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee. “I’m just so impressed with the level of play of these 20 female athletes. I’m also really impressed with their attitude, and their receptiveness and their willingness to want to get better over a four-day span. The decision was really hard for the committee, because there just wasn’t a whole lot of separation, and I think those people that watched these women play this year in college basketball know how good of a talent level we had at this camp. We really appreciate the level of effort, professionalism and competitiveness that this group showed. At the end of the day of we feel really good about the group that we’ve put together to be the finalists.
“We wanted some flexibility on how to structure the roster and give Dawn (Staley) the ability to play people in the ways that she wants, and then be able to go down to Puerto Rico with the best compilation of players that gives us the best opportunity to win a gold medal.”
This will be Boston’s fifth assignment with USA Basketball. She has helped the U.S. win gold at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, 2018 Youth Olympic Games (3×3), 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup and 2017 FIBA U16 AmeriCup. Boston was named MVP of the U16 AmeriCup and was part of the All-Start Five at the U17 World Cup. Henderson helped the U.S. to bronze in the 2016 FIBA U17 World Cup.
USA National Team and University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley will serve as the head coach of the USA AmeriCup Team, and she will be assisted by University of Arizona head coach Adia Barnes and Rizzotti, 2021 USA National Team assistant coach.
“I want to talk about the 20 players out here that absolutely competed every single day,” Staley said. “This is not an easy thing to do, to have two-a-days for four-straight days. Throughout those eight sessions, you have good sessions and bad sessions. The committee selected 20 players who were great throughout trials. The 13 players that got selected are equally as great. I thought they did some things to create some separation. That’s why they were named as finalists. It’s safe to say that we got some of the very best college players that we had available to us, and we’re looking forward to training camp and also looking forward to competing at the AmeriCup.”
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on the women’s basketball program.
2021 USA Basketball Women’s AmeriCup Team Finalists
Grace Berger, Indiana
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Jakia Brown-Turner, NC State
Veronica Burton, Northwestern
Elissa Cunane, NC State
Destanni Henderson, South Carolina
Naz Hillmon, Michigan
Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
Haley Jones, Stanford
Diamond Miller, Maryland
Ashley Owusu, Maryland
Sedona Prince, Oregon
NaLyssa Smith, Baylor
“It was one of the most competitive trials I’ve been a part of,” said Jennifer Rizzotti, chair of the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee. “I’m just so impressed with the level of play of these 20 female athletes. I’m also really impressed with their attitude, and their receptiveness and their willingness to want to get better over a four-day span. The decision was really hard for the committee, because there just wasn’t a whole lot of separation, and I think those people that watched these women play this year in college basketball know how good of a talent level we had at this camp. We really appreciate the level of effort, professionalism and competitiveness that this group showed. At the end of the day of we feel really good about the group that we’ve put together to be the finalists.
“We wanted some flexibility on how to structure the roster and give Dawn (Staley) the ability to play people in the ways that she wants, and then be able to go down to Puerto Rico with the best compilation of players that gives us the best opportunity to win a gold medal.”
This will be Boston’s fifth assignment with USA Basketball. She has helped the U.S. win gold at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, 2018 Youth Olympic Games (3×3), 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup and 2017 FIBA U16 AmeriCup. Boston was named MVP of the U16 AmeriCup and was part of the All-Start Five at the U17 World Cup. Henderson helped the U.S. to bronze in the 2016 FIBA U17 World Cup.
USA National Team and University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley will serve as the head coach of the USA AmeriCup Team, and she will be assisted by University of Arizona head coach Adia Barnes and Rizzotti, 2021 USA National Team assistant coach.
“I want to talk about the 20 players out here that absolutely competed every single day,” Staley said. “This is not an easy thing to do, to have two-a-days for four-straight days. Throughout those eight sessions, you have good sessions and bad sessions. The committee selected 20 players who were great throughout trials. The 13 players that got selected are equally as great. I thought they did some things to create some separation. That’s why they were named as finalists. It’s safe to say that we got some of the very best college players that we had available to us, and we’re looking forward to training camp and also looking forward to competing at the AmeriCup.”
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on the women’s basketball program.
2021 USA Basketball Women’s AmeriCup Team Finalists
Grace Berger, Indiana
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Jakia Brown-Turner, NC State
Veronica Burton, Northwestern
Elissa Cunane, NC State
Destanni Henderson, South Carolina
Naz Hillmon, Michigan
Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
Haley Jones, Stanford
Diamond Miller, Maryland
Ashley Owusu, Maryland
Sedona Prince, Oregon
NaLyssa Smith, Baylor
