May 7, 2009
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Texas A&M's Sydney Carter is among 27 of the nation's top 19 years old-and-under athletes who have accepted invitations to attend the 2009 USA Basketball Women's U19 World Championship Team Trials to be held on May 14-17 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Carter, a 5-6 freshman guard from Desoto, Texas, was honored on the 2009 Big 12 Conference All-Freshman Team for her outstanding first-year of play for the Aggies. She played in 34 games of the season with one start and ranked among the top 10 freshmen leaders in the league in scoring (4.3 ppg), three-point field goal percentage (37.3), free throw percentage (79.5), steals (1.14) and assists (1.6). Carter was twice selected as Big 12 Freshman of the Week. She is one of four recent A&M players to be selected to participate in USA Basketball Team Trials next to former standouts Morenike Atunrase (2005, 2006, 2007), A'Quonesia Franklin (2007) and Takia Starks (2007).
Athlete invitations were extended by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee, chaired by NCAA Vice President for Division I Women's Basketball Sue Donohoe. Training camp will begin on July 8 in Colorado Springs, and the eventual 12-member roster will be announced prior to the team's departure overseas. As the two-time defending FIBA U19 World Championship gold medalists, the USA will look to capture its third-straight gold medal at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship to be held on July 23-Aug. 2 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Carter is joined by fellow collegians LaSondra Barrett of LSU, Sarah Boothe of Stanford, Keisha Hampton of DePaul, Kierra Mallard of Texas Tech, Atonye Nyingifa of UCLA, Nneka Ogwumike of Stanford, Samantha Prahalis of Ohio State, C'eira Ricketts of Arkansas, Chay Shegog of North Carolina, Nikki Speed of Rutgers, Da'Shena Stevens of St. John's, Shawnice Wilson of Pittsburgh and Andrea Smith of Gulf Coast Community College.
"Given the wealth of talent we have in these 27 young women, selecting this year's USA U19 World Championship Team is not going to be an easy task for the committee," Donohoe said. "We have some amazing players who will be trying out for just 12 roster spots and I expect that each trials session will be very competitive. However, I feel confident that the committee will be able to put together a team that will make the United States proud in its quest for a third consecutive FIBA U19 World Championship gold medal."
Also included on the list of trials participants are high school standouts Kelsey Bone, Skylar Diggins, Layshia Clarendon, Nikki Greene, Tayler Hill, Shenise Johnson, Lindsey Moore, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, Taber Spani, Markel Walker, Samarie Walker and Destiny Williams.
"I'm excited to get started with trials next week," said USA Basketball and Northern Illinois head coach Carol Owens. "We have so many great athletes who will be competing hard for a spot on the team. I'm actually happy that I don't have to pick the team, because I know it's going to be a tough decision for the committee. This is just the first step in what we need to do in order to defend our gold medal and I'm looking forward to the entire process."
Collegiate head coaches Amanda Butler of Florida and Bill Fennelly of Iowa State will serve as assistants to Owens for the 2009 USA U19 National Team. The 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship features 16 national teams comprised of athletes 19-years-old or younger that qualified through their FIBA zone tournaments. The field of nations includes Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Lithuania, Mali, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia and the U.S.
FIBA U19 World Championship
Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was held every four years starting in 1985. FIBA changed its calendar and, as of 2005, the U19 World Championship is now conducted every other year. USA women's teams are 41-10 in the U19/Junior World Championships and have won a record three gold medals and one bronze medal. The U.S. captured gold most recently with a 9-0 record in 2007.
Notable athletes who have competed on past USA U19/Junior World Championship Teams include Alana Beard (2001), Tamika Catchings (1997), Monique Currie (2001), Crystal Langhorne (2005), Erlana Larkins (2005), Lisa Leslie (1989), Rebecca Lobo (1993), Maya Moore (2007), Courtney Paris (2005), Cappie Pondexter (2001), Katie Smith (1993), Dawn Staley (1989), Diana Taurasi (2001) and Candice Wiggins (2005).