COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Louisville junior guard Asia Durr is one of 30 athletes who have accepted an invitation to participate in the 2017 USA Basketball Women’s National Team training camp Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Santa Barbara, California.
She is just one of five collegiate All-Americans who have been included among the training camp roster, which includes 25 WNBA players. Invitations were issued by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee.
“It means a lot to be able to continue to be a part of USA Basketball,” said Durr. “Every time I’m involved I am honored because I get a chance to represent my country.”
Joining Durr in Santa Barbara will be head coach Jeff Walz, who has been selected to assist head coach Dawn Staley (South Carolina) as court coach during training camp.
This marks Durr’s fourth stint with USA Basketball. In mid-August, she helped lead the U-23 National Team to a 3-0 record at the U-24 Four Nations Tournament in Tokyo, Japan. She led the team in scoring with 12.7 points-per-game and notched a team-high 16 points in Team USA’s 103-71 win over Japan in the finale. Prior to her experiences in Japan, the Douglasville, Ga., native had already enjoyed two stints with USA Basketball that resulted in gold medals: the 2013 FIBA Americas U-16 Championship and the 2014 FIBA U-17 World Championship. Last season, Durr became the school’s 28th 1,000-point scorer and broke the program’s single-season record with 119 3-pointers, while extending her school record for consecutive games with a trey to 39 contests. She finished the year with 692 points, an average of 19.2 per game – both marks that rank fourth in the school history.
“It’s a great feeling that I can’t even describe, to be able to compete with people that have been in the league (WNBA) for years,” added Durr. “This is another opportunity to compete against the best of the best. I’m so grateful to be invited.”
The camp will be utilized to help identify and prepare athletes for future USA National Team events, including the 2018 USA World Cup Team, and will mark the USA’s first training camp under Staley’s tenure as head coach.
The USA will train at 10 a.m. (PDT) daily, with sessions at Westmont College on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. On Oct. 2, the USA National Team’s practice will be held at the University of California, Santa Barbara Recreation Center’s Robertson Gymnasium.
WNBA athletes expected to attend the camp include: Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx); Sue Bird (Seattle Storm); Tina Charles (New York Liberty); Layshia Clarendon (Atlanta Dream); Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics); Skylar Diggins-Smith (Dallas Wings); Stefanie Dolson (Chicago Sky); Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx); Chelsea Gray (Los Angeles Sparks); Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury); Tiffany Hayes (Atlanta Dream); Jantel Lavender (Los Angeles Sparks); Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm); Kayla McBride (San Antonio Stars); Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx); Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks); Kelsey Plum (San Antonio Stars); Odyssey Sims (Los Angeles Sparks); Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm); Kiah Stokes (New York Liberty); Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury); Morgan Tuck (Connecticut Sun); Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx); Sydney Wiese (Los Angeles Sparks); and Courtney Williams (Connecticut Sun).
Napheesa Collier (Connecticut); Kelsey Mitchell (Ohio State); Katie Lou Samuelson (Connecticut) and A’ja Wilson (South Carolina) join Durr as collegiate All-Americans who will take part in the camp.
All but one athlete (Gray) has prior USA Basketball experience. Combined the participants own 95 gold medals, two silver medals and five bronze medals in official junior and senior level five-on-five competitions, as well as six gold medals and one bronze medal in international 3×3 events. The list is underscored by a total of 23 Olympic and 17 FIBA World Cup gold medals.
Among the Olympians, Bird and Taurasi are four-time Olympic gold medalists; Augustus and Fowles have earned three Olympic golds apiece; Charles, Moore and Whalen have captured two Olympic gold medals; while 2016 marked the first Olympic gold for Delle Donne, Griner and Stewart.
Bird lists as a four-time USA World Cup Team member and owns three gold medals and one bronze medal at the event; Taurasi has two gold medals and one bronze medal in FIBA World Cup play; Charles, Moore and Whalen helped the USA capture the past two World Cup gold medals; Augustus has one gold medal and one bronze medal at the event; while Fowles earned gold in 2010; and Griner, Ogwumike, Sims and Stewart were members of the 2014 USA World Cup Team that returned home with gold medals.
The USA Basketball Women’s National Team will compete in the 2018 FIBA World Cup (Sept. 22-30 in Spain) and, if the USA qualifies, the 2020 Summer Olympic Games (July 24-Aug. 9 in Tokyo), as well as additional USA training camps and exhibition games.
The U.S. and Staley first will look to capture the title at the 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cup of Basketball, with an automatic berth to the 2020 Olympic Games being awarded to the gold medalist. Should the U.S. not finish with the gold medal in 2018, it would have two additional opportunities to qualify for the Olympics: the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup (dates and site TBD) and the 2020 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD).
Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and chaired by retired Gen. Martin Dempsey, USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for men’s and women’s basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA teams that compete in FIBA-sponsored international competitions, as well as for some national competitions, and for the development of youth basketball initiatives that address player development, coach education and safety.
Connect with USA Basketball on facebook.com/usabasketball, twitter.com/usabasketball, instagram.com/usabasketball and youtube.com/therealusabasketball.
For the latest on Louisville women’s basketball, visit GoCards.com, or follow the team’s Twitter account at @UofLWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/UofLWBB.
Daryl Foust
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