George Washington University Athletics
Jessica Adair to Attend USA Basketball National Team Trials
5/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
May 14, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - George Washington sophomore Jessica Adair has accepted an invitation to the 2007 USA Basketball Women's National Team Trials, to be held May 17-20 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. Adair joins 45 other invitees for the chance to represent the U.S. at either the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship or 2007 Pan American Games later this summer.
Adair was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team after averaging 12.9 points and a team-leading 7.6 rebounds per game for the Colonials in 2006-07. Adair also led GW with 52.8 percent field goal shooting, 52 blocks and 87 made free throws. She posted nine double-doubles this season, including a 15-point, 21-rebound effort against Boise State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in March. The 21 boards tied the fourth-most in NCAA Tournament history and were the most since North Carolina's Charlotte Smith grabbed 23 in the 1994 NCAA Championship game.
Trials will feature an opening session on May 17 beginning at 6:30 pm (all times MDT), followed by two-a-days, May 18-19. USA Basketball is expected to announce finalists for each team following the morning session on May 20.
The USA will look to defend its world title in this age group, open to athletes 21-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1986), at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship, held this year June 29-Aug. 8 in Moscow, Russia. Duke University head coach Joanne McCallie returns as the USA's head coach after piloting the 2006 USA U20 National Team to a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA Americas U20 Championship. She will be assisted by collegiate head coaches Sam Dixon of Furman University, an assistant to McCallie last summer, and Arizona State University's Charli Turner Thorne. The USA U21 finalists, named following the USA Trials will reconvene in Colorado Springs June 12 to begin training for the tournament, and the eventual 12-member team will be named prior to the squad departing for Europe on June 16. The United States was placed in Group B in the 12-nation tournament along with Australia, Brazil, Hungary, Japan and Spain. Group A includes Belgium, Canada, China, Mali, France and Russia.
The Pan American Games women's basketball tournament will be held July 20-24 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will feature eight national teams from FIBA Americas. Coaching the USA squad will be Temple University head coach Dawn Staley, a 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team assistant coach. Assisting Staley will be collegiate head coaches Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University and Bill Gibbons of College of the Holy Cross. The USA Pan Ams finalists named following the USA Trials will reconvene on July 6 in Washington, D.C., and the eventual 12-member squad will be named prior to the team departing for Brazil on July 16.
GW tied the school record with 28 victories, advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 for the first time since 1997, and finished the 2006-07 season ranked 11th in the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Top 25 poll. GW's .875 (28-4) winning percentage was the best in school history. Head coach Joe McKeown led the Colonials to their sixth straight regular-season league crown, 16th 20-win season and 14th NCAA Tournament appearance.
For more information, including the full 2007 USA Basketball Women's National Team Trials release, please visit USABasketball.com
