Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: S. J. Carrera, Inc.
Burton Invited to USA Basketball AmeriCup Trials
4/14/2021 12:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Junior guard Veronica Burton was one of twenty of the nation's top collegiate athletes invited to attend theUSA Basketball Women's AmeriCup Team trials held on April 18-21, 2021.
Burton was the 2021 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a All-Big Ten first team selection. She led the nation in steals per game and helped lead the Wildcats to their first win in the NCAA Tournament since 1993.
Invitations to the trials, which will be held at the University of South Carolina, were issued by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee and USA Women's Senior National Team Committee.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, no media or guests will be allowed to view trials sessions. USA Basketball will provide media with images and b-roll for non-commercial, editorial use on a daily basis.
The 20 athletes who have accepted an invitation to attend trials are: Grace Berger (Indiana/Louisville, Ky.); Aliyah Boston (South Carolina/St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.); Jakia Brown-Turner (NC State/Oxen Hill, Md.); Rae Burrell(Tennessee/Las Vegas, Nev.); Veronica Burton (Northwestern/Newton, Mass.); Zia Cooke (South Carolina/Toledo, Ohio); Elissa Cunane (NC State/Summerfield, N.C.); Destanni Henderson (South Carolina/Fort Meyers, Fla.); Naz Hillmon (Michigan/Cleveland, Ohio); Rhyne Howard (Kentucky/Cleveland, Tenn.); Ashley Joens (Iowa State/Iowa City, Iowa); Haley Jones (Stanford/Santa Cruz, Calif.); Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech/Summerfield, N.C.); Diamond Miller (Maryland/Somerset, N.J.); Ashley Owusu (Maryland/Woodbridge, Va.); Khayla Pointer (Louisiana State/Marietta, Ga.); Sedona Prince (Oregon/Liberty Hill, Texas); NaLyssa Smith (Baylor/Converse, Texas); Jenna Staiti (Georgia/Cumming, Ga.); and Hailey Van Lith (Louisville/Wenatchee, Wash.).
"The AmeriCup is a national level competition with some of the best players in the Americas," said Jennifer Rizzotti, chair of the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee. "Being a part of the staff in 2019 gave me a taste of the intensity level of this tournament and the Olympic-level players in it. We need to bring the best players available and that's who our committee has worked to identify. Because we are unable to bring WNBA players, we will rely on the best returning college players. Obviously, this is a very talented group with good junior national team level USA Basketball experience, but they will learn quickly the difference when playing against pros. So, we'll need to find the 12 players who are up to the challenge of helping us in our dual goal of claiming gold and advancing to the 2022 World Cup qualifying tournament."
USA National Team head coach Dawn Staley (South Carolina) will serve as head coach of the USA AmeriCup Team, and she will be assisted by University of Arizona head coach Adia Barnes and Rizzotti, 2021 USA National Team assistant coach.
Burton was the 2021 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a All-Big Ten first team selection. She led the nation in steals per game and helped lead the Wildcats to their first win in the NCAA Tournament since 1993.
Invitations to the trials, which will be held at the University of South Carolina, were issued by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee and USA Women's Senior National Team Committee.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, no media or guests will be allowed to view trials sessions. USA Basketball will provide media with images and b-roll for non-commercial, editorial use on a daily basis.
The 20 athletes who have accepted an invitation to attend trials are: Grace Berger (Indiana/Louisville, Ky.); Aliyah Boston (South Carolina/St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.); Jakia Brown-Turner (NC State/Oxen Hill, Md.); Rae Burrell(Tennessee/Las Vegas, Nev.); Veronica Burton (Northwestern/Newton, Mass.); Zia Cooke (South Carolina/Toledo, Ohio); Elissa Cunane (NC State/Summerfield, N.C.); Destanni Henderson (South Carolina/Fort Meyers, Fla.); Naz Hillmon (Michigan/Cleveland, Ohio); Rhyne Howard (Kentucky/Cleveland, Tenn.); Ashley Joens (Iowa State/Iowa City, Iowa); Haley Jones (Stanford/Santa Cruz, Calif.); Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech/Summerfield, N.C.); Diamond Miller (Maryland/Somerset, N.J.); Ashley Owusu (Maryland/Woodbridge, Va.); Khayla Pointer (Louisiana State/Marietta, Ga.); Sedona Prince (Oregon/Liberty Hill, Texas); NaLyssa Smith (Baylor/Converse, Texas); Jenna Staiti (Georgia/Cumming, Ga.); and Hailey Van Lith (Louisville/Wenatchee, Wash.).
"The AmeriCup is a national level competition with some of the best players in the Americas," said Jennifer Rizzotti, chair of the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee. "Being a part of the staff in 2019 gave me a taste of the intensity level of this tournament and the Olympic-level players in it. We need to bring the best players available and that's who our committee has worked to identify. Because we are unable to bring WNBA players, we will rely on the best returning college players. Obviously, this is a very talented group with good junior national team level USA Basketball experience, but they will learn quickly the difference when playing against pros. So, we'll need to find the 12 players who are up to the challenge of helping us in our dual goal of claiming gold and advancing to the 2022 World Cup qualifying tournament."
USA National Team head coach Dawn Staley (South Carolina) will serve as head coach of the USA AmeriCup Team, and she will be assisted by University of Arizona head coach Adia Barnes and Rizzotti, 2021 USA National Team assistant coach.
Players Mentioned
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