Rising talents in women’s college basketball like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers will officially make their debuts for the senior national team in games next month.
The trio of young WNBA stars were named to Team USA’s roster for a qualifying tournament for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from March 11-17.
Olympic gold medal winners Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young are on the roster. Veterans Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard and Aliyah Boston will also represent for the Americans.
In addition to Clark, Reese and Bueckers, other players making their senior national team debut include Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.
Notably absent from the roster — which was selected by managing director Sue Bird — are Napheesa Collier, two-time MVP Breanna Stewart and reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson. But it’s worth noting that the Americans are already qualified for the World Cup, which they accomplished when a Kara Lawson-coached group of college players won the AmeriCup last summer. So, the stakes for this qualifying tournament aren’t all that high.
Collier is recovering from surgery on her ankles, and Team USA says Stewart will join the squad for its pre-tournament training camp in Miami, Florida on March 7-8.
Team USA says head coach Kara Lawson will lead the team for part of the tournament because it collides with the start of the NCAA Tournament.
‘Lawson will return to Duke to prepare for the NCAA Tournament prior to the tournament ending, and an assistant coach will sit in the first chair for the remaining games,’ USA Basketball said in a press release.
Lawson’s Duke Blue Devils — now winners of 15 straight games and in first place in the ACC — will be in the thick of March Madness preparation. The ACC Tournament will end on March 8, Selection Sunday is March 15, and NCAA Tournament games will begin on March 20. Another Duke staffer, associate head coach Tia Jackson, will serve as a scout coach in San Juan.
On the court, Lawson will be assisted by a trio of WNBA head coaches in the Indiana Fever’s Stephanie White, Golden State Valkyries’ Natalie Nakase of Phoenix Mercury’s and Nate Tibbetts. Jose Fernandez, formerly the longtime coach at USF who is now the head coach of the Dallas Wings, will also serve as a scout coach.
The first of Team USA’s five games in Puerto Rico is March 11 vs. Senegal.
The FIBA Women’s World Cup begins on Sept. 4 in Berlin, Germany.
