Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry (right) was the 2012 USBA team’s second-leading scorer, helping the squad win the gold medal in Beijing.
Atlanta Dream forward Angel McCoughtry was named on Jan.13 as one of 33 players selected for the 2014-16 USA Basketball Women’s National Team pool, from which the 2014 USA World Championship Team and, if the U.S. qualifies, the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team will be selected.
McCoughtry is one of 12 former Olympic gold medalists named to the pool for the USA National Team roster, having starred for the 2012 U.S. team that won gold in Beijing, China. McCoughtry was that team’s second-leading scorer (10.9 points per game) and added 4.6 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.1 assists per contest. Her 20 steals were six more than any other player at the Olympics.
McCoughtry also helped lead the USA National Team to a gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championships, as well as the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational and the 2007 Pan American Games.
“I would be honored to be able to play in the World Championship again, especially with it being in Turkey,” said McCoughtry, who plays for the Turkish club Fenerbahce during the WNBA offseason. “It would feel like I’m playing at home.
“To earn a spot on this team I must continue to show growth and improvement in my game, and also maturity as a leader.”
The USA Basketball Women’s National Team over the next three years will compete in the 2014 FIBA World Championship (Sept. 27 – Oct. 5 in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey), and if the USA qualifies, the 2016 Summer Olympic Games (Aug. 5 – 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), as well as additional USA training camps and exhibition games.
Members of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team player selection committee include USA Basketball Women’s National Team Director Carol Callan; league appointees WNBA Chief Of Basketball Operations and Player Relations, Reneé Brown; San Antonio Silver Stars Head Coach and General Manager Dan Hughes; Chris Sienko, Connecticut Sun vice president and general manager, and three-time Olympic and two-time FIBA World Championship gold medalist Katie Smith, who serves as athlete representative. Smith played in nearly 200 games for USA Basketball from 1993-2008.
“The committee has a harder time picking 12 players than any other women’s basketball team in the world,” McCoughtry added. “It’s great to have the amount of talent that we have in America but very hard knowing there are only 12 spots.”
For more information and a complete listing of players named to the pool, visit www.usab.com.
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