USA Basketball made its decision on the final roster spot for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball team this afternoon and they’ve decided that former UConn Huskies women’s basketball player Asjha Jones will round out the roster. With Jones being named to the team, head coach Geno Auriemma will have six of his former players on the team.
Here’s the release from USA Basketball:
With the addition of 2010 FIBA World Championship gold medalist Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun), the 2012 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team was finalized today by USA Basketball. Jones, who joins the 11 previously announced team members, was selected by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee, approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors and is pending final approval by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
“It’s an honor,” said Jones. “My mom, everyone in my family is so excited for me. I think it’s exciting how people respond to you when you tell them. A lot of people want to cry. Just to see the way people react to the news is really special. I’m really exited. I’m so excited to be a part of this.
“It was kind of like I was in disbelief and shock,” Jones said about hearing the news. “I kind of put the Olympics out of my head because I didn’t think I was going to be on the team. First I was surprised that Carol (Callan) was even calling me. Then when I answered and she told me the news, I was very surprised, very shocked. I was really, really honored to be picked up.”
“I’m excited,” said USA and University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma. “I think it’s well deserved. She adds an awful lot of maturity, experience and talent to this team. Some of the teams that we’re going to have to beat in the Olympics, the best teams are really the ones who have the most experienced post players. Asjha has proven herself both in the WNBA and overseas to be able to defend anybody and to be able to score. She’s got experience. All of the things you would look for in a player, she has those qualities. So, when we’re looking at who that 12th player was, having somebody with Asjha’s experience and certainly what she’s done overseas, especially this year, has given us a lot of comfort knowing that we have somebody who can really compliment the other post players who have already been named.”
“As always, this decision was very difficult due to the breadth and quality of the USA National Team pool,” said USA Basketball Women’s National Team Director Carol Callan, a member of the selection committee. “Asjha has shown her abilities throughout the EuroLeague season, culminating in earning MVP honors at the Final Eight. Her abilities and leadership as a veteran of international basketball and over the last several years with our USA National Team program makes her a great choice for this final spot. Her experience pushed her forward in terms of selecting the final roster spot.”
The 6-3 forward was a member of the 2007-08 USA National Team, but was injured during the September 2007 training camp and unable to participate in drills. She returned in 2009, and in her first stint playing for USA Basketball aided the USA to a 3-0 mark and the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational title. Named to the 2010 USA World Championship Team, Jones was on hand for the team’s four pre-World Championship exhibition games and went on to help lead the U.S. to the gold at the Worlds. Last fall Jones played in the final three of the USA’s five games in its 2011 European Tour.
A 10-year WNBA veteran, Jones is a two-time WNBA All-Star and was named to the 2008 All-WNBA second team. She competes professionally in Europe and after helping propel her Rivas Ecopolis (Spain) squad to the 2012 EuroLeague championship game, Jones was named the 2012 EuroLeague Final Eight MVP. She closed out the season averaging a EuroLeague career-high 17.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game for Rivas in EuroLeague games.
In her four-year (1999-2002) collegiate career Jones, who played for Auriemma at the University of Connecticut, aided the Huskies to a 136-9 record (.938), won a pair of NCAA crowns (2000, 2002) while advancing to four NCAA Tournaments, including the 2001 Final Four, and earned four Big East regular season and tournament titles.
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Named on March 30 to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team were: Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Swin Cash(Chicago Sky), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx), Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx).
The well-balanced and talented U.S. squad will compete for the USA’s fifth-consecutive Olympic gold medal in London this summer. Auriemma will be assisted by DePaul University head coach Doug Bruno, 1988 Olympic gold medalist and Washington Mystics assistant coach Jennifer Gillom and Atlanta Dream head coach Marynell Meadors.
The USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee is comprised of WNBA representatives Reneé Brown, Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations; Dan Hughes, head coach/General Manager of the San Antonio Silver Stars; and Chief Operating Officer/General Manager of the Indiana Fever Kelly Krauskopf; athlete representative and five-time Olympian Teresa Edwards; and Callan.
2012 Olympic Games
Four-time defending Olympic gold medalists, the U.S. will look to capture its fifth straight and seventh overall gold medal and extend its 33-game Olympic winning streak at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London. The Olympic women’s basketball competition will be held July 28-Aug. 11 in the Olympic Park Basketball Arena (preliminary round and quarterfinals) and North Greenwich Arena (semifinals and finals).
The draw to determine the two preliminary round pools of six teams each is scheduled to be held April 28 at the FIBA Central Board meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The preliminary round, played July 28-Aug. 5, will feature a round-robin schedule and the top four finishing teams will advance to the Aug. 7 quarterfinals. The semifinals are scheduled for Aug. 9, and the finals will be played on Aug. 11.
Seven countries have claimed spots in the eventual 12-nation field, including host country Great Britain; the United States, which earned its berth by virtue of earning the gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship; and five nations which earned the gold medal at their respective FIBA zone qualifying tournaments, including Angola (FIBA Africa), Australia (FIBA Oceania), Brazil (FIBA Americas), China (FIBA Asia) and Russia (FIBA Europe).
The final five teams will earn their spots at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament (June 25 – July 1 in Ankara, Turkey), which will feature 12 nations from each of the five 2011 FIBA zone qualifying tournaments as follows: two from FIBA Africa, including Mali (bronze medalists) and Mozambique (fifth-place finisher); three from FIBA Americas, including Argentina (silver medal), Canada (bronze medalist) and Puerto Rico (fifth-place finisher); two from FIBA Asia, including South Korea (silver medalist) and Japan (bronze medalist); four from FIBA Europe, including Turkey (silver medalist), France (bronze medalist), Czech Republic (fourth place) and Croatia (fifth place); and New Zealand (silver medalist) from FIBA Oceania.
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