Andra Espinoza-Hunter Makes U16 Team

[bschwartz]

USA Basketball
@usabasketball
Congratulations #USABwu16 team members! @jaydaadams42, Desireé Caldwell, Aquira DeCosta @d1_shiftteam and Andra Espinoza-Hunter @DraHunter2

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I believe I read a quote from her yesterday or the day before that she expects other coaches to contact her, bur she's unshakeable in her commitment. To which I say Whoopee! for the unshakeable part.

 

[Wbbfan1]

Tweets that show all that Made Team https://twitter.com/usabasketball

 

[Goodgood]

I believe I read a quote from her yesterday or the day before that she expects other coaches to contact her, bur she's unshakeable in her commitment. To which I say Whoopee! for the unshakeable part.

That quote was from Kyla Irwin. AEH might have made the same but could not find it.

 

[HuskiesU]

So DiDi Richards didn't make the team?

 

[Wbbfan1]

Full list of who made team with Head Shot Photos

http://www.bluestarmedia.org/index.php/component/k2/item/1246-usa-u16-roster-announced

 

[JavaMan]

So DiDi Richards didn't make the team?

She did not ...sadly IMHO.

More on the team from USA Basketball:

The 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championship will be played June 24-28 in Puebla, Mexico, where the USA women will set their sights on a fourth-consecutive U16 gold medal, along with a berth into the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship, which will be awarded to the top four finishing teams.

• While the USA Basketball Women’s Developmental National Team Committee invited 10 of the team members to attend trials, Adams and Miller participated in trials as applicant athletes.
• Adams is the younger sibling of Jordan Adams, a 2009 U16, 2010 U17 gold and 2011 U19 medalist, while Caldwellis the younger sibling of Receé Caldwell, a 2011 USA U16 and 2014 U18 gold medalist.
• Six players are from the high school class of 2017, and six players will graduate high school in 2018.
• Espinoza-Hunter and Scott-Grayson are teammates at Blair Academy in New Jersey.
• Two players are listed on the ESPN HoopGurlz class of 2017 Terrific 25, including Morris 14th and Littleton 17th.
• Six players are included on the class of 2018 HoopGurlz espnW watch list, which features Caldwell, DeCosta, Myers, Prince, Scott-Grayson and Wallace.

The 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championship will feature eight teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.

The USA was drawn into preliminary round Group A, along with Argentina, Honduras and Mexico. Playing in preliminary round Group B will be Brazil, Canada, Cuba and Venezuela.

The USA opens play against Argentina on June 24, faces Honduras on June 25 and caps preliminary round play against host Mexico on June 26.

After playing each of the teams in its preliminary round group, the top two ranked teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, and the third and fourth-placed teams will compete for fifth-through-eighth places. The semifinals will be played on June 27, and the finals will be on June 28.

The USA owns three gold medals and is a perfect 15-0 all-time in U16 play, including most recently in 2013, when the USA topped teams by 63.9 points per game.

[LINK]

 

[Kmoney]

Four Texans on the team. That is impressive considering that there were probably several others in consideration. Texas always produced great athletes, but now it seems they are producing some excellent players. I wonder if they have made changes to their youth programs or is this just evolutionary? Does anyone have any insight? My curiosity is only surpassed by my number of mint juleps and my laziness today.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Four UConn targets on the team:

DeCosta, Wallace, Williams, Scott-Grayson

 

[JavaMan]

Four UConn targets on the team:

DeCosta, Wallace, Williams, Scott-Grayson

And one commit!

 

[JavaMan]

carl adamec ‏@CarlAdamec
Espinoza-Hunter on her play: "I feel like as the trials went on that I got better. To get on this team I knew I had to step up."

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Congrats for Andra.

Some notable names not on the team

1. Rellah Boothe
2. Kasi Kushkituah
3. Didi Richards
4. Charli Collier


Interesting enough an AAU coach told me one time that it is more than their skills. Its also how they compose themselves and their interactions with their teammates that also goes into these decisions.

Looks like a good group.

 

[JavaMan]

I believe I read a quote from her yesterday or the day before that she expects other coaches to contact her, bur she's unshakeable in her commitment. To which I say Whoopee! for the unshakeable part.

On Andra's commitment, courtesy of Carl A.:

As a seventh grader playing on the Ossining (New York) High girls varsity basketball team, she would join Pride coach Dan Ricci and junior guard and recruiting target Saniya Chong when they traveled to Storrs or Hartford to watch the University of Connecticut play.

Little did the Huskies’ coaching staff and players know the impact they were having on Espinoza-Hunter.

“I would go with Saniya and the first time, seeing the crowds and seeing how the coaches and players interacted with each other and how they played, I thought, ‘Wow, this is my dream school,’ ” Espinoza-Hunter said Friday. “What made me come back was that it was so much fun, the atmosphere, the intensity of the games and the intensity that the girls played with. It was amazing and it’s the style that I liked to play, even then. Most teams don’t play as fast and as hard and as uptempo as Connecticut does. I would go to other games and not be that interested. But with Connecticut I was locked in from the first game that I saw.”

[LINK]

 

[EricLA]

Congrats and I'm so happy for her - There were some question marks on her game since Hoopgurlz originally had her a top 10 kid several years ago, but according to them, lackluster play dropped her out of their top 50. But she was recently moved from #4 to #3 per Blue Star and while I'm not sure she's one of the top 3 in her class (she may be), it seems like we got not only a wonderful person, but a terrific basketball player.

I'm so happy for her, and the rest of her teammates. It's wonderful that she's a commit and there are at least 3-4 others on the team who we are recruiting. Great chance for them to bond and see what it would be like to play together at UCONN...

 

[kat0189]

The 8th grader (or c/o 2019 kid) 5'7" PG Chloe Chapman from MD ended up not making the final roster, though Blue Star pegged her as the best PG after the first cut and Prospect Nations also seemed to peg her as a worthy of making the final team. Still, a very impressive showing from the youngster. It sounds like she might be the early favorite for #1 in the c/o of 2019. And perhaps she holds a Megan-Walker-like stranglehold on that spot, as she was the only 2019-er to make the final 40.

 

[kat0189]

Interesting to note that selection Jayda Adams c/o 2017 only averaged 3.4 ppg as a sophomore for her HS team Mater Dei. Katie Lou, of course, averaged 29.2 ppg as a senior for that team.

 

[Wbbfan1]

ESPNW Article http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-comme...tball-announces-roster-fiba-americas-u16-team

 

[rvwsleep]

I was very impressed with Sedona Prince (Texas commit 2018) when I saw her play on the team with Nancy Mulkey in the Boo Williams tournament this summer. I thought she played much better than Mulkey did despite being a couple of years younger. She is tall (6'7"), athletic and has some basketball instincts.

http://www.usab.com/basketball/media/videos/2015/05/wu16-trials-sedona-prince.aspx

 

[Wbbfan1]

Read Kenny Kalina Tweets about USA Basketball selections for U16 team and how they are overlooking (being Kind) Florida players.

https://twitter.com/wcgbMedia

https://twitter.com/KennyKallina

 

[Wbbfan1]

Two of the 12 players that made the team were not part of the original 35 that were invited.

Jayda Adams (Mater Dei) and Laurn Miller from Missouri.

http://usatodayhss.com/2015/six-sop...ain=post original url&st_refQuery=/XMJ69lvKqA

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Kalina seems to think there's a conspiracy to keep Florida players off national teams. Seems rather unlikely.

 

[Sonny44]

What an accomplishment Andra. Congratulations.

 

[Wbbfan1]

While he does beleive that, he believes more strongly that NIKE and College Coaches have too much influence in the process. Like the All American teams not enough input by other organizations.

Kalina seems to think there's a conspiracy to keep Florida players off national teams. Seems rather unlikely.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

While he does beleive that, he believes more strongly that NIKE and College Coaches have too much influence in the process. Like the All American teams not enough input by other organizations.

I saw his comments. Don't the coaches of the team pick the players? I don't understand why they'd care about Nike.

 

[Wbbfan1]

I think his thought process is on the original 35 that were invited and 10 of them made the team. Who provides input to USA Basketball on which players receive the PAID invite. He believes that NIKE and College Coaches have influence in this process. I'm sure he also believes that some players will make the team, regardless of how other players play in the Trial. Players are chosen by committee and usually coaches are not part of the committee.

I saw his comments. Don't the coaches of the team pick the players? I don't understand why they'd care about Nike.