The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Williams invited to USA Basketball Trials
05.14.2007 | Women's Basketball
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- University of Texas women's basketball forward Earnesia Williams has been invited to the 2007 USA Basketball National Team Trials, slated for May 17-20 in Colorado Springs, where the 6-1 standout will compete for a spot on the 2007 USA Under-21 World Championship Team and the USA Pan American Games Team. The USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee, which is chaired by Sue Donohoe, the NCAA's vice president of Division I women's basketball, awarded the invitations Monday.
Williams (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa HS), who played this year as a medical redshirt freshman, has three years of collegiate athletic eligibility remaining. She is one of 45 elite players invited to tryouts for the U21 and Pan Am Games teams. Williams has been a USA Basketball participant previously, attending the 2005 USA Women's National Team Trials where she was a finalist for the U19 World Championship Team.
Williams joins fellow Longhorn player Brittainey Raven at the 2007 USA Basketball Trials this week, all which take place at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs. Earlier this month, Raven (Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley HS) was extended an invitation to tryout for the U19 World Championship Team.
The third-leading scorer for the 18-14 Longhorns this past year, Williams averaged 9.5 points and added 4.3 rebounds per game while starting all 30 games she played in. Twice, she was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week.
Both Williams and Raven (7.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg) are two of the top three scorers returning for new Longhorns head coach Gail Goestenkors. Goestenkors herself currently serves as an assistant coach for USA Basketball's Senior National Team.
In all 23 of the 45 under consideration for a spot on one of the teams have been a member of a past USA Basketball squad. Sixteen of them earned 2007 All-America honors. The 45 athletes under consideration for the two USA squads represent 32 schools from 11 NCAA Division I conferences and one junior college. Maryland, Georgia and Rutgers lead the universities with three representatives each. The Big East tops the list of conferences with 10 representatives, while the ACC and SEC are represented by eight and six athletes, respectively.
Williams is one of five players from the Big 12 Conference invited to Trials for the U21 and Pan Am Games squads, joining Texas A&M guard Takia Starks, Oklahoma posts Courtney and Ashley Paris and Texas Tech signee Dominic Seals.
The Trials will feature an opening session on Thursday, May 17, beginning at 6:30 p.m. (all times MDT), followed by two-a-day sessions on May 18 and 19, and an 8:30 a.m. session on May 20.
The 2007 USA U19 National Team Trials will also take place May 17-20 at the USOTC; however, the U19 sessions will take place at different times during the weekend.
USA Basketball is expected to announce finalists for each team following the morning session on May 20.
The USA is the defending FIBA U21 World Champions and were the silver medalist at the last Pan American Games (taking place in 2003). The 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship will be held June 29-July 8 in Moscow, Russia. Duke University head coach Joanne McCallie is the USA's head coach and is assisted by collegiate head coaches Sam Dixon of Furman University (S.C.) and Arizona State University's Charli Turner Thorne.
The Pan American Games women's basketball tournament will be held July 20-24 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will feature eight national teams from FIBA Americas. Coaching the USA squad will be Temple University head coach Dawn Staley. Assisting Staley will be collegiate head coaches Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University and Bill Gibbons of Holy Cross (Mass.) College.
The USA U21 finalists, named on May 20, will reconvene in Colorado Springs June 12 to begin training for the tournament, and the eventual 12-member team will be named prior to the squad departing for Europe on June 16. The USA Pan Ams finalists named following the USA Trials will reconvene on July 6 in Washington, D.C., and the eventual 12-member squad will be named prior to the team departing for Brazil on July 16.
