HARTFORD, Conn. _ Four UConn alumni were named to the USA Basketball roster ahead of the national squad's Jan. 27 exhibition matchup against the Huskies in Hartford, USA Basketball announced Thursday.
Breanna Stewart, Tina Charles, Sue Bird, and Diana Taurasi will suit up in red, white and blue for the contest. The game will mark Stewart's return to the court after she ruptured her right Achilles tendon playing in the EuroLeague championship game back in April. She missed the 2019 WNBA season after winning league MVP and a championship with the Seattle Storm in 2018.
Auriemma had previously said that the four-time NCAA champion at UConn was aiming to be able to compete in the matchup against her alma mater, but USA Basketball's announcement on Thursday made it official.
Bird and Taurasi will also return to Connecticut, where the pair combined for five national championships in 2000, 2002 (the only title they won together), 2003, and 2004. Charles won two championships of her own in Storrs in 2009 and 2010.
The other members of USA Basketball's women's national team winter college tour roster are: Chelsea Gray, Nneka Ogwumike, A'ja Wilson, Sylvia Fowles, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Layshia Clarendon, Kayla McBride, and Kelsey Plum. Charles will only participate in the UConn game, while Angel McCoughtry will only appear for the U.S.'s contest against Louisville, her alma mater, on Feb. 2.
"We are grateful to both the University of Connecticut and the University of Louisville for hosting our national team in a pair of significant games prior to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying games in Serbia," said Carol Callan, USA Basketball Women's National Team director and chair of the USA National Team Player Selection Committee, in a release. "We know that they both will give us an incredibly high level of competition, and their fans will have a great opportunity to see our team, including their alums, as well as watching a glimpse of what they can expect to see in Tokyo. We're looking forward to a great environment, similar to what we had in all four of our games in November, and want to thank the fans in advance for coming to the games."
UConn alum Jennifer Rizzotti, who is currently the coach at George Washington, will also be at the UConn game as an assistant coach for the national team.
UConn announced Wednesday that the school will celebrate the 10-year anniversaries of its 2009 and 2010 national titles prior to the exhibition's 7 p.m. tipoff. Confirmed attendees include Maya Moore, Charles, Tiffany Hayes, and Renee Montgomery. Rebecca Lobo, who guided the Huskies to a national title in 1995, will be on the call for ESPN2.
The exhibition games against UConn and Louisville are two of six that the U.S. national team scheduled in preparation for the 2020 Olympics (the previous ones were in the fall against Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State, and Texas A&M). Though the U.S. has already qualified for the Olympics, the team will compete in the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament from Feb. 6-9 in Belgrade, Serbia. Bird, Stewart, Taurasi _ along with roster additions Diamond DeShields, Jewell Loyd, and Brittney Griner _ will participate in that tournament.
With Dawn Staley, the head coach of the 2020 national team, unable to join the squad in January and February due to commitments to her South Carolina squad, Dan Hughes and Cheryl Reeve will serve as co-coaches for the exhibition games and tournament in Serbia.
