Phoenix Mercury guard-forward Kahleah Copper was one of 18 players announced on Monday to participate at the USA Basketball Women’s National Team’s training camp. Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts will serve as a court coach.
Training camp will take place from Dec. 12-14 at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where national team head coach Kara Lawson coaches.
The next national competition will be the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup taking place Sept. 4-13 in Berlin. Managing director Sue Bird will be evaluating players for that team during training camp as the U.S. will look to win its fifth consecutive World Cup gold medal.
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Copper has represented the United States on the global stage twice before. Her national debut came during the 2022 FIBA World Cup in Sydney. She averaged 9.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists before missing the final two games with a left hip injury.
Most recently, Copper played in the 2024 Paris Olympics, averaging 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 14.6 minutes.
Copper played a critical role in the gold medal match against France, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the U.S. to a narrow 67-66 victory over the host nation.
The women’s national team has taken home six consecutive gold medals and has not lost an Olympic game since 1992.
This will be the first time Tibbetts will coach at the women’s national level. His only prior USA coaching experience was in 2011, when he was the head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s Pan American Games team that finished in third place.
Full list of players participating in training camp
Lauren Betts
Aliyah Boston
Cameron Brink
Paige Bueckers
Veronica Burton
Sonia Citron
Caitlin Clark
Kahleah Copper
Chelsea Gray
Brittney Griner
Dearica Hamby
Kiki Iriafen
Rickea Jackson
Brionna Jones
Kelsey Plum
Angel Reese
JuJu Watkins
Jackie Young
Full list of coaches
Kara Lawson
Natalie Nakase
Nate Tibbetts
Stephanie White
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