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Elena Delle Donne named to USA Basketball women’s national team training camp

By Albert Lee
Basketball - Olympics: Day 15 Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

The USA Basketball women’s national team is the best in the world. After winning the 2016 Olympics, they automatically qualified for the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup without having to play in the FIBA AmeriCup competition earlier this summer. This is unlike the men’s basketball side where the United States participated with a squad of mostly G-League players and won.

Elena Delle Donne was one of 30 players named to the squad, which is no surprise. She played for Team USA in the 2016 Olympics where she won a gold medal. Training camp is from September 30 to October 2. in Santa Barbara, California. Here are all of the candidates:

2017 USA Basketball women’s national team training camp roster

Player Team POS Age
Player Team POS Age
Seimone Augustus Lynx G 33
Sue Bird Storm G 36
Tina Charles Liberty C 28
Layshia Clarendon Dream G 26
Napheesa Collier Connecticut Huskies G/F 20
ELENA DELLE DONNE MYSTICS F 28
Skylar Diggins-Smith Wings G 27
Stefanie Dolson Sky C 25
Asia Durr Louisville Cardinals G 20
Sylvia Fowles Lynx C 31
Chelsea Gray Sparks G 24
Brittney Griner Mercury C 26
Tiffany Hayes Dream G 27
Jantel Lavender Sparks C 28
Jewell Loyd Storm G 23
Kayla McBride Stars G 25
Kelsey Mitchell Ohio State Buckeyes G 21
Maya Moore Lynx F 28
Nneka Ogwumike Sparks F 27
Kelsey Plum Stars G 23
Katie Lou Samuelson Connecticut Huskies G/F 20
Odyssey Sims Sparks G 25
Breanna Stewart Storm F 23
Kiah Stokes Liberty C 24
Diana Taurasi Mercury G 35
Morgan Tuck Sun F 23
Lindsay Whalen Lynx G 35
Sydney Wiese Sparks G 22
Courtney Williams Sun G 23
A'ja Wilson South Carolina Gamecocks F 21
USA Basketball

What are my takeaways?

Here are the takeaways:

  • Many young players have made this training camp roster - This includes several college players. This is good for USA Basketball because they can take a look at who is going to be the face of the Red, White, and Blue in the future.
  • The Mystics only have one candidate - I’m disappointed that Tayler Hill wasn’t named to this roster, even if she’s injured.
  • Doesn’t appear that Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Lindsay Whalen, and Seimone Augustus are ready to give in to the youth - All four of these veterans formed the backcourt of Team USA in each of the last two Olympics. They’re still among the best at their position in their league. With all four returning, it’s apparent that they’re not ready to just hand their spot to a young player in the future. There are many American WNBA guards who decided to play for other nations because these four were either too good, or that USA Basketball wasn’t willing to add in a couple younger guards on their teams for other major tournaments. If Bird, Taurasi, Whalen, and Augustus all make the 2018 World Cup team, that may be a statement that the USA still doesn’t know what to do when it comes to replacing them. That time is sooner, not later.

Who else made the World Cup?

The continental tournaments are in the books. Here are the other teams that the USA could play against next year:

The Host

  • Spain

FIBA Europe

These teams earned their spots by earning high finishes in EuroBasket Women 2017. Spain won the tournament but have a spot regardless because they will host the World Cup.

  • France
  • Belgium
  • Greece
  • Latvia
  • Turkey

FIBA Americas

These teams earned their spots by earning high finishes in the 2017 Women’s AmeriCup.

  • Argentina
  • Canada
  • Puerto Rico

FIBA Africa

These teams earned their spots by earning high finishes in Women’s AfroBasket 2017.

  • Nigeria
  • Senegal

FIBA Asia

These teams earned their spots by earning high finishes in the 2017 FIBA Asia Women’s Cup:

  • Australia
  • China
  • Japan
  • Korea

The FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup will be from September 22-30, 2017 in Spain.