Women’s Basketball Stars to Gather at the U.S. National Team Camp
Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, and JuJu Watkins, along with other promising women’s basketball players, will make their debut at the U.S. national basketball team camp next month. The renowned sports program will hold a training camp at Duke University from December 12th to 14th.
In total, 18 players will participate in this event, including former Olympians and World Cup gold medalists such as Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Kahleah Copper, as well as 3×3 basketball Olympian Dearica Hamby.
Brionna Jones, a member of the 2022 World Cup team, was also called up for the training camp, and the presence of Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 WNBA draft, is expected.
Cameron Brink, Lauren Betts, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Rickea Jackson, and Veronica Burton complete the group of debutantes at the senior camp.
Clark, Bueckers, Watkins, Brink, Betts, Boston, and Citron have already won gold medals with USA Basketball in youth competitions. Betts, Boston, Reese, Burton, and Jackson were part of Team USA in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup. Iriafen will make her debut with USA Basketball.
Watkins, the USC star and national player of the year last season, will not participate on the court due to her recovery from an ACL injury suffered in March, but will have the opportunity to learn and integrate into the women’s national team program during the camp.
The training camp will serve as an evaluation opportunity, as the newly appointed general manager of the U.S. women’s national team, Sue Bird, is tasked with naming the team for the 2026 FIBA World Cup in September 2026, where the U.S. will seek its fifth consecutive World Cup gold.
The camp will be led by the new national team head coach, Kara Lawson, currently a coach at Duke, with WNBA coaches Natalie Nakase, Nate Tibbetts, and Stephanie White as court coaches.
