May 14, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Old Dominion guard T.J. Jordan (Portsmouth, Va.) is one of 45 of the nation's elite women's basketball athletes that has accepted an invitation to the 2007 USA Basketball Women's National Team Trials, slated to be held May 17-20 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Committee is expected to announce finalists for the 2007 USA U21 World Championship Team and the 2007 USA Pan American Games Team on May 20th.
A two-time Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament Most Outstanding Player, Jordan ranked fourth nationally in three-point field goals per game (3.1). She hit a school-record 10 three's in late February against conference rival Northeastern, that also became the most three pointers made during the 2006-07 season by a Division women's player. Not only did Jordan reset school records for three-pointers made in a game (10), she also set new Lady Monarch marks for three-point field goals attempted in a game (22), made in a season (101), and attempted in a season (283). A First Team All-CAA selection, she led Old Dominion with 14.5 points per game and ranked ninth in scoring among her conference peers. During her junior campaign she cracked the 1,000th point career mark and is currently 22nd on the ODU all-time scoring leaders list with 1,094 career points. Jordan scored 20 or more points in seven contests, reached double figures in 25 of 33 games, and led the Lady Monarchs in scoring in 20 of 33 games.
The eight returning players from last summer's USA Basketball U20 National Team that qualified the USA for the 2007 U21 Worlds include: Jolene Anderson (Wisconsin / Port Wing, Wis.); DeWanna Bonner (Auburn / Fairfield, Ala.); Essence Carson (Rutgers / Paterson, N.J.); Erlana Larkins (North Carolina / Riviera Beach, Fla.); Marscilla Packer (Ohio State / Pickerington, Ohio); Courtney Paris (Oklahoma / Piedmont, Calif.); Kia Vaughn (Rutgers / Bronx, N.Y.); and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton (Purdue / Naperville, Ill.).
Also vying to represent the United States this summer at either the FIBA U21 World Championship or Pan American Games along with Jordan include: Jessica Adair (George Washington / Washington, D.C.); Demetress Adams (South Carolina / Bishopville, S.C.); Matee Ajavon (Rutgers / Newark, N.J.); Charel Allen (Notre Dame / Monessen, Pa.); Alex Anderson (Chattanooga / Stone Mountain, Ga.); Marissa Coleman (Maryland / Cheltenham, Md.); Tanae Davis-Cain (Florida State / Dawson, Ga.); Krystal Ellis (Marquette / Racine, Wis.); Emily Fox (Minnesota / Highlands Ranch, Colo.); Mercedes Fox-Griffin (Oregon State / La Jolla, Calif.); A'Quonesia Franklin (Texas A&M / Tyler, Texas); Megan Frazee (Liberty / Xenia, Ohio); Laura Harper (Maryland / Elkins Park, Pa.); Amber Holt (Middle Tennessee / Duluth, Ga.); Alexis Hornbuckle (Tennessee / Charleston, W.Va.); Charde Houston (Connecticut / San Diego, Calif.); Ashley Houts (Georgia / Trenton, Ga.); Tasha Humphrey (Georgia / Gainesville, Ga.); Briann January (Arizona State / Spokane, Wash.); Crystal Kelly (Western Kentucky / Louisville, Ky.); Crystal Langhorne (Maryland / Willingboro, N.J.); Rashanda McCants (North Carolina / Asheville, N.C.); Angel McCoughtry (Louisville / Baltimore, Md.); Nicole Michael (Syracuse / Queens, N.Y.); Britany Miller (Florida State / Tallapoosa, Ga.); Ashley Paris (Oklahoma / Piedmont, Calif.); Allie Quigley (DePaul / Joliet, Ill.); Angel Robinson (Georgia / Marietta, Ga.); Dominic Seals (South Plains / Dallas, Texas); Takia Starks (Texas A&M / Houston, Texas); Mel Thomas (Connecticut / Cincinnati, Ohio); Kirsten Thompson (Arizona State / Monroe, Wash.); Ashley Walker (California / Modesto, Calif.); Abby Waner (Duke / Highlands Ranch, Colo.); Candice Wiggins (Stanford / San Diego, Calif.); and Earnesia Williams (Texas / Sapulpa, Okla.).
Courtney Paris, a member of the 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team, as well as January, Thompson and Waner will not attend Trials, and their waivers are under consideration by the Committee.
Franklin, Holt, Hornbuckle, Humphrey and Thomas, who are all over 21, are eligible only for the USA Pan American Games Team.
The USA will look to defend its world title in this age group, open to athletes 21-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1986), at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship, held this year June 29-July 8 in Moscow, Russia. Duke University (N.C.) head coach Joanne McCallie returns as the USA's head coach after piloting the 2006 USA U20 National Team to a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA Americas U20 Championship. She will be assisted by collegiate head coaches Sam Dixon of Furman University (S.C.), an assistant to McCallie last summer, and Arizona State University's Charli Turner Thorne. The USA U21 finalists, named following the USA Trials, will reconvene in Colorado Springs June 12 to begin training for the tournament, and the eventual 12-member team will be named prior to the squad departing for Europe on June 16. The United States was placed in Group B in the 12-nation tournament along with Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Japan and Spain. Group A includes Belgium, Canada, China, Mali, France and Russia.
The Pan American Games women's basketball tournament will be held July 20-24 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will feature eight national teams from FIBA Americas. Coaching the USA squad will be Temple University (Pa.) head coach Dawn Staley, a 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team assistant coach. Assisting Staley will be collegiate head coaches Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University (Mass.) and Bill Gibbons of College of the Holy Cross (Mass.). The USA Pan Ams finalists named following the USA Trials will reconvene on July 6 in Washington, D.C., and the eventual12-member squad will be named prior to the team departing for Brazil on July 16.
Jacques Curtis of Shaw University (N.C.), Donnita Drain of Langston University (Okla.) and Narleski Wyrick of Southwestern Christian College (Texas) will serve as court coaches for the 2007 Women's National and Junior National Team Trials.
ABOUT THE FIBA U21 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
Held for the first time four years ago (2003), when it was known as the FIBA World Championship For Young Women, the USA captured the 2003 gold medal with a 7-1 record in Sibenik, Croatia. In the gold medal contest the U.S. avenged a 73-60 preliminary round loss to Brazil with a dominating 71-55 rout as tournament MVP Seimone Augustus paced the U.S. to the gold with 18 points. Augustus was joined on the five-member 2003 All-FIBA World Championship For Young Women Team by the USA's Alana Beard and Christi Thomas. FIBA changed the names of its age-based World Championships in 2005 to reflect the age athletes must be to be eligible for the event.
ABOUT THE PAN AMERICAN GAMES:
The Pan American Games, held every four years in the year prior to the Olympics and organized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), is a multi-sport competition open to men and women representing countries from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. This summer the Pan American Games will be held July 13-30, with the women's basketball competition slated for July 20-24, in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. Started in 1951 for men and 1955 for women, the Pan American Games are held every four years in the year preceding the Olympics. Only countries from FIBA Americas are eligible to compete. The USA women have won six of 12 gold medals and rolled up a 67-12 record. Competing against national teams from the Americas, the 2003 USA Pan Ams squad featured12 collegians who banded together to come away with the silver medal.