Women’s Basketball Stars Prepare for USA Basketball National Team Camp
A select group of women’s basketball players, including Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, and JuJu Watkins, are preparing to debut at the USA Basketball national team camp. This training event will take place at Duke University from December 12th to 14th.
The camp will bring together 18 participants, including outstanding players with Olympic experience and gold medalists in the World Cup, such as Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Kahleah Copper. Dearica Hamby, an Olympic medalist in 3×3, will also participate.
Brionna Jones, a member of the 2022 World Cup team, has also been called up. Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 WNBA draft pick in 2023, is also scheduled to attend.
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.
Clark, Bueckers, Watkins, Brink, Betts, Boston, and Citron have previously won gold medals with USA Basketball in youth competitions. Betts, Boston, Reese, Burton, and Jackson were part of the USA team at 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.
This training camp will serve as an evaluation opportunity for the new general manager of the USA women’s national team, Sue Bird, who will have the task of selecting the team for the 2026 FIBA World Cup in September 2026, where the USA 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.
