May 9, 2006
Stanford rising sophomores Rosalyn Gold-Onwude and Jillian Harmon, along with incoming freshmen Michelle Harrison and JJ Hones are among 37 of the nation's top 20-and-unders (born on or after Jan. 1, 1986) will be under consideration for spots on the eventual 12-member 2006 USA U20 National Team that will look to defend the United States' title at the 2006 FIBA Americas U20 Championship. The invitations were issued by the USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee, which is chaired by Sue Donohoe, the NCAA's vice president of Division I women's basketball.
"The list of players who will vie for a spot on the USA's FIBA Americas U20 Championship Team is full of talent," said USA U20 National Team and Michigan State University head coach Joanne P. McCallie. "I'm excited about seeing them all at the trials in a few weeks. I know with this kind of talent, the Committee will have a tough time narrowing it down to just 12 players. Looking at the 37 athletes, I really like our chances for success later this summer."
Trials for the USA U20 Championship Team are scheduled for May 18-21 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Finalists for the eventual 12-member team will be announced on May 21 and will reconvene in late July for training camp at a site to be determined prior to departing for the FIBA Americas U20 Championship.
Scheduled for Aug. 9-13 at a site TBD, the tournament will feature eight teams from North, South and Central Americas and the Caribbean. The top three finishing teams qualify for the 2007 FIBA U21 Women's World Championship that will be held July 27-Aug. 5 in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Trials begin May 18 with a 5:30-7:30 p.m. (all times MDT) session. May 19-20 will feature two-a-days from 8:30-11:00 a.m. and 4:30-7:00 p.m. each day. Trials will conclude with an 8:00 a.m. session on May 21, followed by the announcement of USA team finalists.
McCallie will be assisted by collegiate head coaches University of California's Joanne Boyle and Furman University's (S.C.) Sam Dixon; while Loyola University's (La.) DoBee Plaisance, Grand Valley State University's (Mich.) Dawn Plitzuweit and Georgia Perimeter College's James Waldon have been selected as court coaches for USA Basketball's 2006 FIBA Americas U20 Championship For Women Team Trials.
This past season, Harmon and Gold-Onwude were both honored by the Pacific-10 Conference, as Harmon was named to the All-Freshman Team and Gold-Onwude was awarded honorable mention all-freshman accolades.
Harrison and Hones were both selected to the Parade All-America Third-Teamd and Harrison was tabbed a 2006 McDonald's All-American and earned WBCA All-America honorable mention. Harrison (Utah) and Hones (Oregon) were also named 2006 Gatorade Circle of Champions Player of the Year in their respective states. Harrison, born on Dec. 11, 1987, also holds the recognition of being the youngest athlete in the mix.
In all, there are five athletes who recently completed their final year of high school eligibility, 16 rising college sophomores, 15 rising juniors and one who will be a college senior in the fall. The 32 collegiate athletes hail from 24 schools and 10 different conferences, with California (four) and Rutgers (three) ringing in with the most representatives per school, and the Big East (eight) and Pac-10 (six) ring in with the most athletes per conference.