Walz to Lead USA U19 World Cup Team at Training Camp
July 02, 2019 | Women's Basketball
The 13th FIBA U19 World Cup will be held July 20-28 in Bangkok, Thailand, where the USA will attempt to capture an eighth gold medal.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 2, 2019) – In preparation of the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, University of Louisville women's basketball head coach Jeff Walz and the USA Basketball Women's U19 National Team open training camp on Friday at the United States Olympic Training Headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.
A summer after leading the U18 team to a gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Americas Championship, Walz is serving as head coach of the U19 team. He previously led USA Basketball to a perfect 3-0 record at the 2017 U24 Four Nations Tournament in Tokyo, and to gold medals as an assistant coach for the 2014 USA Women's U18 and 2015 USA U19 national teams.
The 13th FIBA U19 World Cup will be held July 20-28 in Bangkok, Thailand, where the USA will attempt to capture an eighth gold medal.
"I'm excited to get out to Colorado and get started," said Walz. "I have been in touch with everyone to let them know how excited we as a staff are and to try to give them a little bit of an idea as to how training camp will work and what will take place. Things always change. There are working parts. We will be trying to get a feel for the team, who's going to be able to do what. We will get that going as soon as we get out there."
Members of the 2019 USA U19 World Cup Team are: Francesca Belibi (Regis H.S./Centennial, Colo.); Aliyah Boston (Worcester Academy, Mass./St. Thomas, USVI); Cameron Brink (Southridge H.S./Beaverton, Ore.); Paige Bueckers (Hopkins H.S./St. Louis Park, Minn.); Caitlin Clark (Dowling Catholic H.S./West Des Moines, Iowa); Queen Egbo (Baylor/Houston, Texas); Naz Hillmon-Baker (Michigan/Cleveland, Ohio); Rhyne Howard (Kentucky/Cleveland, Tenn.); Diamond Miller (Franklin H.S./Somerset, N.J.); Jordan Nixon (Notre Dame/New York, N.Y.); Celeste Taylor (Long Island Lutheran/Valley Stream, N.Y.); and Hailey Van Lith (Cashmere H.S./Wenatchee, Wash.).
The U.S. team will to train July 5-10 at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Center, beginning with a 5 p.m. (MDT) practice on July 5. On July 6, 8, 9 and 10 the team's practices are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (MDT) and 5:30 p.m. (MDT), and on July 7 the team will practice once, beginning at 11 a.m. (MDT). Due to space constraints, practices are open to credentialed media and guests only.
Following its Colorado Springs training, the U.S. team will travel to Tokyo, Japan, where it will practice and scrimmage against the Japan U19 National Team July 13-15. The USA has an additional three days of training and a pair of scrimmages in Bangkok against Argentina and Germany, July 17-19, before the FIBA U19 World Cup tips off July 20.
No. 1 in FIBA's world youth women's rankings, the USA will play in preliminary round Group C and will open the competition July 20 against No. 7 Australia (1:15 a.m. EDT), followed by a July 21 contest against No. 15 South Korea (1 a.m. EDT). After a rest day, the USA will cap preliminary games July 23 against No. 14 Hungary (1 a.m. EDT).
Group A includes Canada, Latvia, Mozambique and Thailand; Group B features Argentina, Belgium, China and Mali; and drawn into Group D were Colombia, Germany, Japan and Spain.
Following the preliminary round, all teams will advance to the July 24 round of 16. The winners of the round of 16 will advance to the July 26 medal quarterfinals, and the losers will play out for ninth-16th places. The semifinals will be played on July 27, and the gold and bronze medal games on July 28.
Walz is being assisted by collegiate head coaches Natasha Adair (Delaware) and Cori Close (UCLA).
Players eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens, born on or after Jan. 1, 2000.
FIBA U19 World Cup for Women
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), 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).
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, @USABJNT), Instagram (@USABasketball) and YouTube (therealusabasketball).
