Five former UConn women’s basketball stars, including legends Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, were named to the 12-person U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team on Monday.
USA Basketball seeks to win a seventh straight gold medal this summer at the Tokyo Olympics.
The U.S. Olympic roster also includes former Huskies Tina Charles and Breanna Stewart, appearing on their third and second Olympic squads respectively, and Napheesa Collier, making her debut Olympic and FIBA senior-level 5-on-5 appearances. The roster is rounded out by three-time gold medalist Sylvia Fowles, Brittney Griner, A’ja Wilson, Jewell Loyd, Ariel Atkins, Chelsea Gray and Skylar Diggins-Smith. Wilson, Loyd, Atkins, Gray, Diggins-Smith and Collier are all first-time Olympians.
A gold in Tokyo for Bird and Taurasi, both named to their fifth Olympic team, would be the most for any women’s basketball player in history. They will be the seventh and eighth basketball athletes to compete in five Olympics.
“It’s still very special,” Taurasi told reporters Monday. “I’ve never taken being part of the Olympic team for granted. It’s always definitely an honor and it’s something I take very seriously. It’s something that I’ve dedicated my whole basketball career to.
I’ve always made a concerted effort to be on the Olympic team if I’m chosen, to be available for camps and World Championships and different college tours. It’s something on the forefront of my basketball career. Getting that phone call from [national team director] Carol [Callan], it was a special moment.”
All 12 players were part of an expanded training program in which the USA went 17-1, 5-1 against NCAA teams and 12-0 versus international teams in FIBA-sanctioned play. The group boasts a collective 60 gold medals.
The United States women’s basketball national team is one of the most dominant Olympic squads ever, winners of six straight gold medals dating back to the 1996 “Dream Team.” The U.S. women haven’t lost in a tournament since 2006 and in the Olympics since 1992.
“USA Basketball has never been in a better place,” Team USA head coach Dawn Staley said in a statement. “I’m honored to be the coach of such an amazing collection of talented women, both those named to the team and those who gave their all the last few years but won’t be with us in Tokyo. The fact that some of the players who won’t suit up this summer would start for any other country is a testament to their talent and to what USA Basketball has done to build a program that lifts up our female athletes every single day. I’m so proud to be the coach of Team USA and like all of the coaches, support staff, and our players, I can’t wait to make America proud this summer.”
The national team’s selection committee includes UConn coach Geno Auriemma, a two-time Olympic gold-medal coach who currently serves as a special advisor to the program, and Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller as a WNBA representative. Sun president and former UConn star Jen Rizzotti serves as one of three assistant coaches to Staley.
Some notable omissions from the Olympic roster include Nneka Ogwumike, who’s currently dealing with a knee injury but is expected to return to WNBA play shortly. According to ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel, Ogwumike is the only season MVP in league history not to make an Olympic team.
Elena Delle Donne, a 2016 Olympian, also did not make the cut this summer. She hasn’t played competitively since Oct. 2019, when the Mystics won the WNBA title, due to back issues, and remains out indefinitely for the 2021 WNBA season.
The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to run July 23-Aug. 8. The USA will face France, Japan and Nigeria in group play, which concludes on Aug. 2. The quarterfinals will occur Aug. 3 and 4, semifinals Aug. 6 and bronze and gold-medal games on Aug. 7. The No. 1 team in the world, the USA qualified for the Olympics during the 2018 FIBA World Cup, when it won gold.
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