USA - USA Basketball announces National Team roster

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It will be like homecoming weekend for Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird Swin Cash as the three former UConn stars have been named to the 11-member USA Basketball team roster. All three will return to the state that gave them their first national stage next week to play for Geno Auriemma and Team USA against the WNBA All-Stars at the Mohegan Sun Arena on July 10.

Team USA will be coached by UConn’s Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma.

Taurasi, the reigning WNBA MVP who now stars for the Phoenix Mercury, and Bird and Cash , both of whom play for the league-leading Seattle Storm, will be joined on the National Team roster by Tina Charles, who led the Huskies to two straight NCAA titles and is having an outstanding rookie season with the Sun. Charles leads the Sun in scoring with a 15.2 points-per-game average, and is the top rebounder in the WNBA, hauling down 12.1 boards per contest. Current Husky star Maya Moore, who has been referred to as the “Michael Jordan of women’s basketball,” will be the only college player on Auriemma’s team.

Joining the UConn contingent on the Team USA roster will be Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever, Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Renee Montgomery (Connecticut Sun), Maya Moore (University of Connecticut), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Cappie Pondexter (New York Liberty) .

The All-Star event, entitled WNBA vs. USA Basketball: The Stars at the Sun, will be televised by ESPN at 3:30 p.m. In addition to the game, the U.S. will conduct a training camp July 7-11 with all available members from the USA National Team pool participating, including former UConn and current Sun stars Renee Montgomery and Asjha Jones.

Additional USA National Team members confirmed to attend the training camp are Kara Lawson of the Sun, Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Shameka Christon (Chicago Sky), Lindsey Harding (Washington Mystics) and former Sun star Lindsay Whalen, now with the Lynx.

USA National Team hopefuls Jayne Appel of the San Antonio Silver Stars, who attended the team’s first two training camps while a collegian at Stanford but was injured and unable to participate, along with Ebony Hoffman of the Indiana Fever and Kia Vaughn of the New York Liberty have been invited to practice alongside USA National Team members in the hopes of being added to the squad at a later date.
Alana Beard of the Washington Mystics, Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks) and Candice Wiggins (Minnesota Lynx) are currently injured and unable to participate in the July training camp.

“This training camp is the first and only opportunity that I’m going to have the chance to be with the majority of the players that were in the last Olympics that were a part of our core group,” said USA and University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, who will guide the USA National Team through 2012. “So whatever amount of time we have, it’s going to be used in the best way that we can. We’ll get a chance to see how they interact with each other. They’ll get a feel for me, and I’ll get a feel for them and we’ll play the game and go from there.

“I’m looking forward to having an opportunity to coach them and to get a feel for them in game situations,” Auriemma continued. “So, I’m really excited. Some of them I haven’t seen play yet, and I really haven’t had a chance to see some of the guys that I had coached before. I haven’t had a chance to be around them since they graduated, so all-in-all I think the Stars at the Sun game will be great opportunity for me, and it’s a great opportunity for them as well.”

Bird was the top vote getter in the online fan balloting and was joined on the list of fans’ top 10 favorites by Cash, Catchings, Parker and Taurasi.

On Fri., July 9, the team will open its practice, held at the Mohegan Sun Arena, to the public at 2:45 p.m.
This marks the second time a USA National Team will go against a team comprised of WNBA standouts. Prior to the 2004 Olympic Games the U.S. faced a team comprised of WNBA players in an exhibition game at Radio City Music Hall. In an exciting send-off for the U.S. team that eventually captured gold in Athens, the USA was led in the 74-58 victory by Lisa Leslie’s 15 points.

Auriemma will be assisted through the 2010 FIBA World Championship by DePaul University head coach Doug Bruno, Los Angeles Sparks head coach Jennifer Gillom and Atlanta Dream head coach Marynell Meadors.