STANFORD, Calif. – Nneka Ogwumike has earned an invitation to this week's USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in advance of the 2018 FIBA World Cup.
Eighteen players were invited to the camp, which runs from September 3-5 in Columbia, S.C. and will be capped with a Red-White intrasquad exhibition at Colonial Life Arena on Wednesday. The camp marks the tipoff of the team's final preparations for the 2018 FIBA World Cup – formerly the FIBA World Championship, which will be held September 22-30 in Tenerife, Spain.
Ogwumike won a FIBA World Cup gold medal with the United States in Istanbul, Turkey in 2014, averaging 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game. She had her best performance at that event in a meeting with Angola, scoring 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds as the United States won by a record 75 points (119-44).
The 2016 WNBA MVP, Ogwumike recently concluded her seventh professional season with the Los Angeles Sparks in which she averaged 15.5 points on 52.5 percent shooting, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists. She earned her fifth All-Star nod, but was unable to participate in the WNBA's summer showcase due to illness.
Traveling up the coast to Bridgeport, Connecticut, the USA continues its exhibition schedule with a game against Canada on September 8 at Webster Bank Arena, and closes out its domestic tour against Japan on September 10 at George Washington University's Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C.
Prior to arriving in Tenerife, Canary Islands, for the World Cup, the USA will play in a four-team, international tournament in Antibes, France, September 15-17, against Canada, France and Senegal.
The final 12-member 2018 USA World Cup Team will be selected by the USA Women's National Team Player Selection Committee prior to the start of the World Cup.
Ogwumike could join current Cardinal senior Alanna Smith in Spain. The 6-foot-4 Smith was named to Australia's roster for the FIBA World Cup a little over a week ago. Smith will be the sixth Stanford player to appear in a FIBA World Cup, joining Americans Jayne Appel (2010), Jennifer Azzi (1990, 1994, 1998), Sonja Henning (1990) and Ogwumike (2014) along with Enjoli Izidor, who played for Nigeria in 2006.