Walz to Lead USA U19 National Team Trials This Weekend
May 15, 2019 | Women's Basketball
Walz will serve as head coach of the 2019 USA Women's U19 National Team.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -  University of Louisville head coach Jeff Walz will lead the 2019 USA Basketball Women's U19 National Team Trials, which are set to tip off on May 16 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Trials to select the 12-member team will take place through May 19. Training camp will follow July 5-19, with the U19 World Cup competition taking place July 20-28 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 2019 USA Women's U18 National Team will be led by Walz, with Natasha Adair of the University of Delaware and Cori Close of UCLA serving as the USA's assistant coaches.
This past summer, Walz led the 2018 USA Basketball Women's U18 National Team to a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Mexico City.
This is Walz's sixth coaching assignment with USA Basketball. Prior to the 2018 USA U18 National Team, Walz led the 2017 USA Basketball U23 National Team to a 3-0 record and a tournament title at the Four Nations U24 Tournament in Tokyo. He also helped USA Basketball to gold medals as an assistant coach for the 2014 USA U18 and 2015 USA U19 national teams and served as a court coach at the 2017 USA National Team training camp.
Walz recently completed his 12th season (2007-08 to present) as University of Louisville head coach. The 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year holds a 331-100 (.768) career record as a head coach.
In 2018-19, the Cardinals finished 32-4 overall after advancing to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. Finishing 14-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, the Cardinals also captured their second consecutive ACC regular season title.
Under Walz, Louisville has made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 nine times, the Final Four three times and to two national title games.Â
Players taking part in the 2019 USA U19 World Cup Team trials were: Shakira Austin (Maryland/Fredericksburg, Va.); Francesca Belibi (Regis H.S./Centennial, Colo.); Aijha Blackwell (Cadinal Ritter H.S./Berkeley, Mo.); Aliyah Boston (Worcester Academy, Mass./St. Thomas, USVI); Cameron Brink (Southridge H.S./Beaverton, Ore.); Jenna Brown (Stanford/Atlanta, Ga.); Paige Bueckers (Hopkins H.S./St. Louis Park, Minn.); Chrislyn Carr (Texas Tech/Davenport, Iowa); Caitlin Clark (Dowling Catholic H.S./West Des Moines, Iowa); Nia Clouden (Michigan State/Owings Mills, Md.); Elissa Cunane (North Carolina State/Northern Guilford, N.C.); Maori Davenport (Charles Henderson H.S./Troy, Ala.); Aquira DeCosta (Baylor/Stockton, Calif.); Elizabeth Dixon (Louisville/Germantown, Tenn.); Queen Egbo (Baylor/Houston, Texas); Shaylee Gonzales (BYU/Gilbert, Ariz.); Aubrey Griffin (Ossining H.S./ Ossining, N.Y.); Naz Hillmon-Baker (Michigan/Cleveland, Ohio); Rhyne Howard (Kentucky/Cleveland, Tenn.); Ashley Joens (Iowa State/Iowa City, Iowa); Haley Jones (Archbishop Mitty H.S./Santa Cruz, Calif.); Diamond Miller (Franklin H.S./Somerset, N.J.); Jordan Nixon (Notre Dame/New York, N.Y.); Charisma Osborne (Windward School/Inglewood, Calif.); Abby Prohaska (Notre Dame/Liberty Township, Ohio); Taylor Robertson (Oklahoma/McPherson, Kan.); Honesty Scott-Grayson (Baylor/Brick, N.J.);Â Nalyssa Smith (Baylor/Converse, Texas); Celeste Taylor (Long Island Lutheran/Valley Stream, N.Y.);Â Hailey Van Lith (Cashmere H.S./Wenatchee, Wash.) and Kylee Watson (Mainland Regional H.S./Linwood, N.J.).
Players eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens, born on or after Jan. 1, 2000.
Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was held every four years starting in 1985. FIBA changed its calendar in 2005 and now conducts the U19 World Cup every other year.
USA women's teams are 79-13 in U19/Junior World Cups, capturing a sixth-consecutive gold in 2015 with a 7-0 record. In 2017, USA Basketball fell four points short against Russia in the gold medal game in an attempt to capture a seventh-straight gold medal.
Notable players to represent the U.S. include: Angela Aycock (1993), Alana Beard (2001), Essence Carson (2005), Tamika Catchings (1997), Crystal Dangerfield (2015, 2017), Bria Hartley (2011), Ruthy Hebard (2017), Crystal Langhorne (2005), Erlana Larkins (2005), Jantel Lavender (2007), Lisa Leslie (1989), Rebecca Lobo (1993), Maya Moore (2007), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (2009), Vickie Orr (1985), Courtney Paris (2005), Cappie Pondexter (2001), Katie Smith (1993), Dawn Staley (1989), Azura Stevens (2015), Breanna Stewart (2011 and MVP of the 2013 U19 World Cup), Diana Taurasi (2001), Morgan Tuck (2011 and 2013) and A'ja Wilson (2013 and MVP of the 2015 U19 World Cup).
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About USA Basketball
Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and chaired by retired Gen. Martin Dempsey, USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA national teams that compete in FIBA-sponsored five-on-five and 3x3 international competitions, as well as for some national competitions and for the development of youth basketball.
Connect with USA Basketball at USAB.com and on Facebook (USABasketball and USABYouth), Twitter (@usabasketball, @USABYouth, @USAB3x3), Instagram (@USABasketball) and YouTube (therealusabasketball).
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Trials to select the 12-member team will take place through May 19. Training camp will follow July 5-19, with the U19 World Cup competition taking place July 20-28 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 2019 USA Women's U18 National Team will be led by Walz, with Natasha Adair of the University of Delaware and Cori Close of UCLA serving as the USA's assistant coaches.
This past summer, Walz led the 2018 USA Basketball Women's U18 National Team to a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Mexico City.
This is Walz's sixth coaching assignment with USA Basketball. Prior to the 2018 USA U18 National Team, Walz led the 2017 USA Basketball U23 National Team to a 3-0 record and a tournament title at the Four Nations U24 Tournament in Tokyo. He also helped USA Basketball to gold medals as an assistant coach for the 2014 USA U18 and 2015 USA U19 national teams and served as a court coach at the 2017 USA National Team training camp.
Walz recently completed his 12th season (2007-08 to present) as University of Louisville head coach. The 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year holds a 331-100 (.768) career record as a head coach.
In 2018-19, the Cardinals finished 32-4 overall after advancing to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. Finishing 14-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, the Cardinals also captured their second consecutive ACC regular season title.
Under Walz, Louisville has made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 nine times, the Final Four three times and to two national title games.Â
Players taking part in the 2019 USA U19 World Cup Team trials were: Shakira Austin (Maryland/Fredericksburg, Va.); Francesca Belibi (Regis H.S./Centennial, Colo.); Aijha Blackwell (Cadinal Ritter H.S./Berkeley, Mo.); Aliyah Boston (Worcester Academy, Mass./St. Thomas, USVI); Cameron Brink (Southridge H.S./Beaverton, Ore.); Jenna Brown (Stanford/Atlanta, Ga.); Paige Bueckers (Hopkins H.S./St. Louis Park, Minn.); Chrislyn Carr (Texas Tech/Davenport, Iowa); Caitlin Clark (Dowling Catholic H.S./West Des Moines, Iowa); Nia Clouden (Michigan State/Owings Mills, Md.); Elissa Cunane (North Carolina State/Northern Guilford, N.C.); Maori Davenport (Charles Henderson H.S./Troy, Ala.); Aquira DeCosta (Baylor/Stockton, Calif.); Elizabeth Dixon (Louisville/Germantown, Tenn.); Queen Egbo (Baylor/Houston, Texas); Shaylee Gonzales (BYU/Gilbert, Ariz.); Aubrey Griffin (Ossining H.S./ Ossining, N.Y.); Naz Hillmon-Baker (Michigan/Cleveland, Ohio); Rhyne Howard (Kentucky/Cleveland, Tenn.); Ashley Joens (Iowa State/Iowa City, Iowa); Haley Jones (Archbishop Mitty H.S./Santa Cruz, Calif.); Diamond Miller (Franklin H.S./Somerset, N.J.); Jordan Nixon (Notre Dame/New York, N.Y.); Charisma Osborne (Windward School/Inglewood, Calif.); Abby Prohaska (Notre Dame/Liberty Township, Ohio); Taylor Robertson (Oklahoma/McPherson, Kan.); Honesty Scott-Grayson (Baylor/Brick, N.J.);Â Nalyssa Smith (Baylor/Converse, Texas); Celeste Taylor (Long Island Lutheran/Valley Stream, N.Y.);Â Hailey Van Lith (Cashmere H.S./Wenatchee, Wash.) and Kylee Watson (Mainland Regional H.S./Linwood, N.J.).
Players eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens, born on or after Jan. 1, 2000.
Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was held every four years starting in 1985. FIBA changed its calendar in 2005 and now conducts the U19 World Cup every other year.
USA women's teams are 79-13 in U19/Junior World Cups, capturing a sixth-consecutive gold in 2015 with a 7-0 record. In 2017, USA Basketball fell four points short against Russia in the gold medal game in an attempt to capture a seventh-straight gold medal.
Notable players to represent the U.S. include: Angela Aycock (1993), Alana Beard (2001), Essence Carson (2005), Tamika Catchings (1997), Crystal Dangerfield (2015, 2017), Bria Hartley (2011), Ruthy Hebard (2017), Crystal Langhorne (2005), Erlana Larkins (2005), Jantel Lavender (2007), Lisa Leslie (1989), Rebecca Lobo (1993), Maya Moore (2007), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (2009), Vickie Orr (1985), Courtney Paris (2005), Cappie Pondexter (2001), Katie Smith (1993), Dawn Staley (1989), Azura Stevens (2015), Breanna Stewart (2011 and MVP of the 2013 U19 World Cup), Diana Taurasi (2001), Morgan Tuck (2011 and 2013) and A'ja Wilson (2013 and MVP of the 2015 U19 World Cup).
Â
About USA Basketball
Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and chaired by retired Gen. Martin Dempsey, USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA national teams that compete in FIBA-sponsored five-on-five and 3x3 international competitions, as well as for some national competitions and for the development of youth basketball.
Connect with USA Basketball at USAB.com and on Facebook (USABasketball and USABYouth), Twitter (@usabasketball, @USABYouth, @USAB3x3), Instagram (@USABasketball) and YouTube (therealusabasketball).
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WBB: Head Coach Jeff Walz On-Campus Media Day (10/22/25)
Wednesday, October 22
WBB: Head Coach Jeff Walz Press Conference (7/31/25)
Thursday, July 31
Jeff Walz Post Game vs Clemson Press Conference 02.27.25
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