UConn Women’s Basketball: Four Huskies Invited to U23 National Team Training Camp

While the time of year between summer workouts and the start of school is the offseason for most college basketball players, four members of the UConn women’s basketball team will have a chance to compete against some of the best players in the nation.

Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson, Azura Stevens and Gabby Williams all accepted invitations to the US National Team’s U23 Training Camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They are part of a group of 40 players vying to make the 12-person roster for the Four Nations Tournament in Toyko, Japan. However, the Huskies won’t be participating in the tournament due to their team trip to Italy.

The invitees will practice for four weeks before the team is announced on August 4. To be eligible, players must be US citizens under the age of 23 that are currently freshman, sophomores or juniors in college.

While Geno Auriemma will not be coaching the team, he is the lead clinician of the camp, meaning he will run all the sessions with the exception of team games and practices. This gives Auriemma extra time to coach four of his players before heading to Italy and chance to see how they measure up against the nation’s best.

The Huskies invited are no stranger to playing on the national team as Samuelson, Collier and Stevens have a combined seven gold medals.

Samuelson holds four, winning the 2014 3x3 Youth Olympic Games, the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship, the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and the 2013 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship.

Collier has two from the 2015 USA U19 World Championship and 2014 3x3 Youth Olympic Games while Stevens owns one gold medal from the 2015 USA U19 World Championships. Williams never had the opportunity to play on a national team, mostly due to knee injuries in high school.