Women’s Basketball Stars Join USA Basketball National Team Camp
A group of prominent women’s basketball players, including names like Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, and JuJu Watkins, are preparing to make their debut at the USA Basketball national team camp.
This event, which will take place at Duke University from December 12th to 14th, will feature the participation of ten players who will make their first appearance at a senior national team camp.
In addition to the rookies, the camp will bring together renowned veterans, including Olympic medalists and world champions such as Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Kahleah Copper, along with 3×3 Olympian Dearica Hamby.
Brionna Jones, a member of the team that participated in the 2022 World Cup, has also been called up. Aliyah Boston, the number one pick in the 2023 WNBA draft, is among the expected players.
Cameron Brink, Lauren Betts, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Rickea Jackson, and Veronica Burton complete the list of players who will debut at the national team camp.
Several of the participants, such as Clark, Bueckers, Watkins, Brink, Betts, Boston, and Citron, have already achieved success with gold medals in USA Basketball youth competitions. Betts, Boston, Reese, Burton, and Jackson were part of the United States team in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup. Iriafen will debut in USA Basketball.
Watkins, 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. However, she will have the opportunity to integrate into the women’s national team program during the camp.
The camp will serve as an evaluation platform for the new general manager of the USA women’s national team, Sue Bird, who will select the team for the 2026 FIBA World Cup, where the United States will seek its fifth consecutive 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.
