EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State women’s basketball guard Nia Clouden is one of 30 players invited to participate in the 2019 USA Women’s U19 World Cup Team trials.
Trials to select the 12-member team will be held May 16-19 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Training camp will follow July 5-19, with the U19 World Cup competition taking place July 20-28 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Clouden is one of 16 players who have just finished their freshmen season at a NCAA Division I institution. The guard is also one of three student-athletes from the Big Ten invited to trials along with Maryland’s Shakira Austin and Michigan’s Naz Hillmon-Baker.
Players eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens, born on or after Jan. 1, 2000.
Clouden finished her Spartan freshman campaign third on the team in scoring, averaging 12.0 points and 3.9 assists. She finished second in the league in among freshmen in assists (3.0 apg) and tied for second in steals per game (1.2 spg). After her successful first season at MSU, she earned All-Freshman team honors as wells being named to the honorable mention All-Big Ten squad.
Serving as head coach for the 2019 USA U19 World Cup Team is Jeff Walz (Louisville), and collegiate head coaches Natasha Adair (Delaware) and Cori Close (UCLA) are the USA’s assistant coaches.
“I’m looking forward to working with all these talented athletes at the USA U19 World Cup Team trials,” said Walz. “It’s an amazing group of athletes and it’s going to be hard for the committee to pick just 12 for this team. We have a group of kids who are versatile, we have so much talent at every position. It will be an exciting weekend of basketball, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Clouden isn’t the only Spartan taking part in USA Basketball this summer, as MSU head coach Suzy Merchant will be the head coach of the U.S. Women’s Pan American team.
2019 USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Cup Team Trials Roster
NAME POS HT SCHOOL/HOMETOWN
Shakira Austin F 6-5 Maryland/Fredericksburg, Va.
Francesca Belibi F 6-1 Regis H.S./*Stanford/Centennial, Colo.
Aijha Blackwell G 6-0 Cardinal Ritter/*Missouri/Berkeley, Mo.
Aliyah Boston F 6-4 Worcester Academy (MA)/*South Carolina/St. Thomas, USVI
Cameron Brink F 6-4 Southridge H.S./#Stanford/Beaverton, Ore.
Jenna Brown G 5-10 Stanford/Atlanta, Ga.
Paige Bueckers G 5-11 Hopkins H.S./#Conn./St. Louis Park, Minn.
Chrislyn Carr G 5-5 Texas Tech/Davenport, Iowa
Caitlin Clark G 6-0 Dowling Catholic H.S./West Des Moines, Iowa
Nia Clouden G 5-8 Michigan State/Owings Mills, Md.
Zia Cooke G 5-9 Rogers H.S./*South Carolina/Toledo, Ohio
Elissa Cunane C 6-5 NC State/Northern Guilford, N.C.
Maori Davenport F 6-4 Charles Henderson H.S./*Rutgers/Troy, Ala.
Aquira DeCosta F 6-2 Baylor/Stockton, Calif.
Elizabeth Dixon F 6-4 Louisville/Germantown, Tenn.
Queen Egbo F 6-3 Baylor/Houston, Texas
Shalylee Gonzales G 5-10 BYU/Gilbert, Ariz.
Aubrey Griffin F 6-1 Ossining H.S./*Connecticut/Ossining, N.Y.
Naz Hillmon-Baker F 6-1 Michigan/Cleveland, Ohio
Rhyne Howard G 6-2 Kentucky/Cleveland, Tenn.
Ashley Joens G 5-11 Iowa State/Iowa City, Iowa
Haley Jones G 6-1 Archbishop Mitty H.S./*Stanford/Santa Cruz, Calif.
Diamond Miller G 6-1 Franklin H.S./*Maryland/Somerset, N.J.
Jordan Nixon G 5-9 Notre Dame/New York, N.Y.
Charisma Osborne G 5-8 Winward School/*UCLA/Inglewood, Calif.
Abby Prohaska G 5-10 Notre Dame/Liberty Township, Ohio
Taylor Robertson G 5-7 Oklahoma/McPherson, Kansas
Taylor Robertson G 5-7 Oklahoma/McPherson, Kansas
Nalyssa Smith F 6-2 Baylor/Converse, Texas
Nalyssa Smith F 6-2 Baylor/Converse, Texas
Celeste Taylor G 5-11 Long Island Lutheran/*Texas/Valley Stream, N.Y.
Celeste Taylor G 5-11 Long Island Lutheran/*Texas/Valley Stream, N.Y.
Hailey Van Lith G 5-9 Cashmere H.S./Wenatchee, Wash.
Hailey Van Lith G 5-9 Cashmere H.S./Wenatchee, Wash.
Head Coach: Jeff Walz, Louisville
Head Coach: Jeff Walz, Louisville
Assistant Coach: Natasha Adair, Delaware
Assistant Coach: Natasha Adair, Delaware
Assistant Coach: Cori Close, UCLA
Assistant Coach: Cori Close, UCLA
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