As always, the process of picking teams to represent the United States generates some controversy, but the selection of this year's Women's Under-17 team originally looked to be fairly simple.
After all, all 12 members of the Under-16 2011 FIBA Americas gold medal team were back in Colorado Springs for the tryouts, and though
Diamond Deshields (Norcross, Ga.) was added to the mix (she played up with U-17 last year), it seemed obvious that the group that would head off to the Netherlands in August for the world championships would look a lot like the one that played together last summer.
Oderah Chidom of Bishop O'Dowd(Oakland, Calif.) was a surprise choicefor the U17 national team.
Photo by David Steutel
Guess again.
Five newcomers (plus DeShields) cracked the final 12, including two who were attending their first USA Basketball tryout. Even so, the selection of 6-foot-4 power – and let us emphasize the word "power" – forward
Kai James (Dwyer, Fla.) wasn't that much of a surprise, given her size, footwork and ability to toss around opponents as though they were still in middle school.
The real shocker, though, was the choice of 6-3 forward
Oderah Chidom (Bishop O'Dowd, Calif.), who worked her way into the committee's collective heart with steady play and versatility at both ends of the floor.
Brianna Turner, Manvel (Tex.)
Photo by Michael Henderson
The other three rookies all were at the 2011 trials, and
Lindsay Allen (St. John's, Washington D.C.) played well enough to deserve strong consideration last spring – but this time she pushed her way onto the team.
Jessica Washington (Jenks, Okla.) and
Brianna Turner (Manvel, Tex.), though, both played much better, and along with DeShields, wound up forcing six veterans to the sidelines.
Well, sort of …
Jannah Tucker (New Town, Md.) made the Under-18 team, even though she didn't work out with that group this past weekend (the two tryouts overlapped by two days, but the sessions were separate), so she will spend another summer playing in a FIBA Americas tournament. In addition, two other players from the U17 trials –
Kendall Cooper (St. Anthony, Calif.) and
Allisha Gray (Washington County, Ga.) – made the U18 team outright.
So the five players from the 2011 U16s who didn't land a spot were Recee Caldwell (Johnson HS, San Antonio), Jordin Canada (Windward, Calif.), Stephanie Mavunga (Brownsburg, N.C.), Sydney Umeri (The Lovett School, Ga.) and Jatarie White (Providence Day, N.C.).
The other six –
Kaela Davis (Buford, Ga.),
Becca Greenwell (Owensboro Catholic, Ky.),
Linnae Harper (Whitney Young, Chicago),
Erica McCall (Ridgeview, Calif.),
Taya Reimer (Hamilton Southeastern, Ind.) and
Mercedes Russell (Springfield, Ore.) – are back, and will have two training sessions to blend in the with the newcomers.
The U18 team was guaranteed to be full of fresh faces because only four players had USA Basketball experience:
Bashaara Graves (Clarksville, Tenn.),
Imani Stafford (Windward, Calif.),
Breanna Stewart (Cicero-North, N.Y.) and
Morgan Tuck (Bolingbrook, Ill.). The other five (not counting Cooper, Gray and Tucker) are
Alexis Brown (North Gwinnett, Ga.),
Moriah Jefferson (THESA, Tex.),
Michaela Mabrey (Manasquan, N.J.),
Alexis Prince (Edgewater, Fla.) and
Brittney Sykes (University, N.J.).
This group will also have two practice sessions before traveling to Puerto Rico in August for the FIBA Americas tournament, which generally is considerably less challenging than the world championships, so any lack of familiarity should not be too detrimental to the team's gold medal chances.