There is a heavy Gamecock presence in international women’s basketball this summer.
Former Gamecock Allisha Gray was one of four players who helped the Americans qualify for the inaugural 3x3 basketball tournament at the Olympics. The Olympic roster hasn’t been finalized, but Gray was Team USA’s leading scorer in the qualifying tournament so she seems like a safe bet.
Turning to current Gamecocks, the AmeriCup tournament begins this week in Puerto Rico and as countries prepare, the Gamecocks are well represented.
Aliyah Boston and Destanni Henderson are on the 12-player roster and Dawn Staley is the head coach for Team USA. AmeriCup training camp began June 1 and the team will leave for San Juan on June 8. The camp is being held in Columbia and was originally intended to help cut the 13 finalists down to 12 roster spots. However Baylor’s NaLyssa Smith was unable to attend the camp due to family illness, so she was eliminated by default.
Team Canada wrapped up its AmeriCup training camp June 4. Laeticia Amihere was one of 20 players invited to participate in the camp, which was held in Tampa, FL, this year due to quarantine and safety protocols. Canada has not officially announced the 12 player roster for the AmeriCup tournament, but Amihere tweeted that she is headed to Puerto Rico and Team Canada shared a picture of her getting on a plane, so it seems safe to assume she made the cut.
Kamilla Cardoso spent the last two weeks in training camp with the Brazilian AmeriCup team. She made the final roster, announced over the weekend. The Brazilian team travels to Puerto Rico Monday. Information about the Brazilian team has been a little difficult to gather because it is mostly in Portuguese and Google translate is hit and miss (it translated “tournament” as “dispute,” which is good for a giggle).
Canada and Brazil are in Group A, while the United States is in Group B. The tournament begins Friday, June 11. Canada and the United States begin play on June 12. The medal games are June 19. The full schedule is here. Games will be streamed on YouTube and at the FIBA website.
The AmeriCup teams are not the same as the Olympic teams. Those rosters will be decided at a later date. Staley, of course, is the Team USA head coach for the Olympics too, and the player pool for the final roster includes A’ja Wilson and Tiffany Mitchell. There is one more training camp before the Olympics to decide on the roster. Dates for that training camp have not been announced. Canada and Brazil are in the same situation, but with a smaller talent pool the AmeriCup and Olympic rosters will have some overlap.
Moving to other teams, incoming freshman Sania Feagin is on the U19 World Cup team. The World Cup will be played in August. Raven Johnson was invited to tryouts but did not make the roster.
Tryouts for the U16 team will be held June 13-16 in Indianapolis. Some players of note who will be participating are Milaysia Fulwiley, KK Arnold, Jordy Griggs, Mary Ashley Groot, Riley Stack, Joyce Edwards, and Ella Hobbs. The 12-player roster will be culled from the 34 invited players.