A'ja Wilson, Mikayla Blakes headline Team USA camp ahead of Women's Final Four
· Yahoo Sports
UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina won’t be the only basketball players in town for the Final Four in Phoenix.
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Team USA will host a three-day training camp for its senior women’s team beginning Wednesday, April 1, at the Phoenix Mercury’s practice facility.
Caitlin Clark — who was the MVP of the FIBA Qualifying Tournament a few weeks ago in Puerto Rico — is not on this roster, but fans shouldn’t read too much into that. Other WNBA stars like Angel Reese, Breanna Stewart, Aliyah Boston and Alyssa Thomas won't participate in this camp either.
This is the third training camp under coach Kara Lawson and there’s not a competition that immediately follows it. This is simply another opportunity for Lawson and managing director Sue Bird to get to know the wider pool of players a bit better before the Americans take the court in the FIBA World Cup in Berlin, Germany in September.
This will be the first camp under Lawson that Sabrina Ionescu and three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson will be apart of. Stefanie Dolson, who Lawson coached to a gold medal in the 3x3 competition in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, is also among the invitees.
Two college players will participate in this camp. SEC Player of the Year Mikayla Blakes, who led the led the nation in scoring for Vanderbilt this season, will be in Phoenix. Blakes was the MVP of the FIBA AmeriCup last summer.
Joining Blakes will be USC star JuJu Watkins, who continues to recover from a knee injury she suffered in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Watkins was present at Team USA camp in Durham, North Carolina, in December. She’ll be a limited participant in Phoenix.
Napheesa Collier — a five-time WNBA All-Star and two-time gold medalist — will also be present in the camp but is not participating in on-court activities as she continues to recover from ankle surgery.
Other players who will participate in this camp include Paige Bueckers, Monique Billings, Rae Burrell, Cameron Brink, Veronica Burton, Rickea Jackson, Brittney Sykes, Azura Stevens and Kayla Thornton.
After leading Duke to its second consecutive Elite Eight appearance, Lawson now turns her attention toward Team USA. For the WNBA players involved, this will be the first Team USA camp since the new collective bargaining agreement between players and the league was agreed to.
Assisting Lawson at the camp will be Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White, Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts, Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase, Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey and Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph. This is the first time that Ivey and Ralph will work as on-court coaches with the senior national team.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A'ja Wilson, Mikayla Blakes headline Team USA camp ahead of Women's Final Four