Women’s Basketball Stars Join 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 will take place at Duke University from December 12th to 14th, marking a crucial moment for the sports program.
This camp will bring together a total of 18 participants, including prominent figures such as Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Kahleah Copper, all gold medalists in the Olympic Games and the World Cup. Dearica Hamby, an Olympic medalist in the 3×3 modality, will also be present.
Brionna Jones, a member of the 2022 World Cup team, has also been called up for this training camp. In addition, the participation of Aliyah Boston, who was the first pick in the 2023 WNBA draft, is expected.
The group of debutantes at the national team camp is completed by Cameron Brink, Lauren Betts, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Rickea Jackson, and Veronica Burton.
It should be noted that Clark, Bueckers, Watkins, Brink, Betts, Boston, and Citron have already won gold medals with USA Basketball in youth competitions. Additionally, Betts, Boston, Reese, Burton, and Jackson were part of the United States team in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup. Iriafen, for her part, will make her debut with USA Basketball.
Although Watkins, 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, she will have the opportunity to learn and integrate into the women’s national team program during the camp.
This training camp will serve as an evaluation platform, as the newly appointed general manager of the U.S. women’s national team, Sue Bird, is tasked with selecting the team for the 2026 FIBA World Cup, to be held in September 2026, where the United States will seek its fifth consecutive gold medal.
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.
