Andraya Carter highlights the composition of the U. S. national team. And explains why Caitlin Clark was left off the list. (1:05)
Caitlin Clark will attend the Paris Olympics, a source told ESPN on Saturday, confirming several reports.
Clark has overseas experience with USA Basketball at a more youthful level, but she was unable to attend the national education camp in Cleveland after being invited because she led Iowa to the Final Four. Clark finished his career as the NCAA Division I scoring leader. .
Clark, now an Indiana Fever rookie, has attracted millions of new women’s basketball enthusiasts during her school career and now into her young career in the WNBA.
Jennifer Rizzotti, chairwoman of the U. S. Women’s National Team committee, declined to comment.
Although Clark may not travel to Paris, the U. S. is expected to host five-time gold medalist Diana Taurasi in her sixth Olympics. Taurasi, who turns 42 on Tuesday, will join through Phoenix Mercury teammate Brittney Griner.
It will be Griner’s first time playing abroad since she was held in a Russian penalty for 10 months in 2022. He said he would play only with USA Basketball.
Olympic veterans Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray will sign up for the duo. Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, who helped the U. S. win the first 3×3 gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021, will also be part of the team.
The first-time Olympians are Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu and Kahleah Copper. All three played in the U. S. U. S. athletes who won the World Cup in Australia in 2022.
The Americans have won every gold medal in women’s basketball since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Taurasi will break the record for the most Olympic Games played in basketball. Five players, including Taurasi’s former teammate Sue Bird, have competed in five competitions.
The U. S. team will meet for a few days of education in Phoenix in July. Then, he will head to London for an exhibition match against Germany before heading to France. The Americans will face Japan, Belgium and Germany in pool play at the Olympics. Games.
The U. S. team will be coached by Cheryl Reeve, a longtime coach of the Minnesota Lynx who has extensive experience in American basketball. Reeve, like former Olympic coaches, allowed himself to give his opinion on the composition of the team, but he is not part of the organization that decided on the players. This was done through the variety committee chaired by Connecticut Sun team president Rizzotti, a former UConn and WNBA player who also coached for many years.
Joining Rizzotti on the variety committee are South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, a former U. S. Olympic coach who has also competed in 3 Olympic Games; Dan Padover, General Manager of the Atlanta Dream; Bethany Donaphin, WNBA league operations manager; and Seimone Augustus and DeLisha Milton-Jones, retired WNBA champions and Olympic gold medalists who are now school coaches.
Lists of all sports for the Paris Games were to be sent to the U. S. Olympic Committee. The U. S. Department of Basketball has been sent to the U. S. until June 7, unless a sport’s tryouts are held after that date or a sport’s governing framework has requested an extension, which USA Basketball has done, a source told ESPN. Technically, this gave the variety committee a little more time to monitor the start of the WNBA season if necessary.
At times, USA Basketball has not publicly announced its Olympic replacements. The proposed list and list of potential replacements will need to be submitted to FIBA, basketball’s world governing body, by about June 24.
The decision to leave Clark off the roster was first reported through The Athletic.
Information from ESPN and Associated Press’ Michael Voepel used in this report.