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 event, which will take place at Duke University from December 12 to 14, will bring together a select group of players for intensive training.
The camp will feature the participation of 18 players, including Olympic veterans and gold medalists in the World Cup such as Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Kahleah Copper, as well as 3×3 Olympian Dearica Hamby. Also joining the group are Brionna Jones, a member of the 2022 World Cup team, and Aliyah Boston, the first pick of the 2023 WNBA draft.
Cameron Brink, Lauren Betts, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Rickea Jackson, and Veronica Burton complete the list of players who will make their debut at the national team camp.
Clark, Bueckers, Watkins, Brink, Betts, Boston, and Citron have won gold medals with USA Basketball in youth competitions. Betts, Boston, Reese, Burton, and Jackson were part of the United States team 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 anterior cruciate ligament 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 for the new general manager of the U.S. women’s national team, Sue Bird, who will be tasked with naming the team for the 2026 FIBA World Cup in September 2026, where the United States 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.
