Prairie View A&M University’s head women’s basketball coach, Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, has been selected as one of two assistant coaches for the 2007 USA Women’s FIBA U19 World Championship Team. “I’m thrilled to be back with USA basketball,” said Cooper. “I’ve been successful with the organization as a player and I’m looking forward to helping coach a successful team.”The team will be led by seasoned basketball coach Doug Bruno (DePaul University). Cooper-Dyke will assist Bruno along with fellow assistant coach Carol Owens, a former USA Basketball player and Northern Illinois University head coach.
Commenting on the appointment, Cooper added, “I think it’s a great opportunity for me and the 19-and-unders team members. Additionally, it will provide great exposure for Prairie View’s women’s basketball team. Overall, I’m looking forward to learning a lot and having a lot of success.”
This year’s coaching team will nurture the nation’s elite 19-and-unders (born on or after Jan. 1, 1988) in hopes of winning a gold medal at the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women, which will be held July 26-Aug. 5 in Bratislava , Slovakia .
The coaching staff selections were made by the USA Basketball Women’s Collegiate Committee, which is chaired by Sue Donohoe of the NCAA, and approved by USA Basketball’s Executive Committee.
This year will serve as Cooper’s first USA Basketball coaching assignment. Bruno and Owens return to the sidelines after leading the 2006 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team to a perfect 4-0 record and gold medal at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, held June 28-July 2 in Colorado Springs , Colo.
USA Basketball will conduct trials for its 2007 U19 National Team from May 17-20 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., with approximately 30 U.S. hopefuls participating. The USA Basketball Women’s Collegiate Committee will also select the finalists for the U19 National Team.
Following trials in May, the Americans will break until July when they reassemble to begin training. The final 12-member roster will be selected prior to the start of the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship.
Player selections will be made by the USA Basketball Women’s Collegiate Committee, which in addition to Donohoe, the NCAA’s vice president of Division I women’s basketball, includes athlete representatives Beth Cunningham, Virginia Commonwealth University, a member of the 1999 USA Pan American Games Team, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Carla McGhee (WNBA Director of Player Personnel); from the NAIA is Martha Gore-Algernon (University of Mobile); NCAA appointees include Sherri Coale (University of Oklahoma), Jim Foster (Ohio State University), Trina Patterson (University at Albany) and Tara VanDerveer (Stanford University); Mary “Roonie” Scovel (Gulf Coast Community College) represents the NJCAA; and Wendy Larry (Old Dominion University) was appointed to the Committee by the WBCA.
FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, is an independent association formed by 213 National federations of basketball throughout the world. FIBA is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the sole competent authority in basketball.
The 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women will feature 16 national teams that qualified through their FIBA zone tournaments, including Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Ivory Coast, Japan, Lithuania, Mali, Slovakia, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the USA .
Originally known as the FIBA Junior World Championship, the tournament was held every four years beginning in 1985. USA women’s teams are 32-10 in the U19/Junior World Championships, most recently capturing gold with an 8-0 record in 2005.