Joyner Holmes

Holmes, a forward at Cedar Hill (Texas), is the No. 2 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Super 60 for the 2016 class. She also helped the U.S. win a gold medal this past summer at the FIBA U17 World Championship in the Czech Republic. Although she is undeclared when it comes to what school she wants to attend, the school she decides will benefit from this star player.

 

Kayla Irwin UCONN commit

Kyla Irwin, Junior Forward at State College (Pennsylvania), joined Crystal Dangerfield in Connecticut's 2016 class when she gave a verbal commit to the huskies on Tuesday. The 6'2 star has continued to develop into a consistent prospect. She's strong and physical in the block and can use either hand to finish around the rim. She's a strong player and will do great under the UCONN program. 

Dedicated Athlete

Hannah Stewart, a 6'2 senior forward for Bishop Ryan (Minot, North Dakota), and her family drove to Minneapolis almost every weekend for four months in the spring and summer so she could play AAU basketball for the first time. Those drives took eight hours and 500 miles each way. She shows characteristics of a dedicated athlete and makes me appreciate how fortunate I am to have a handful of travel teams to choose from in my area. 

UCONN Commit

Crystal Dangerfueld, a 5-foot-6 point guard and the No. 3 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Super 60 for the 2016 class, has given a verbal commitment to Uconn. She is the first Connericut commit from the class of 2016. This kid has the skill and potential to make it far with her basketball career. 

7th grade Texas Longhorn

Deja Kelly is a 13-year-old seventh-grader at Luna Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. She is part of the Class of 2020. Ever since she was little, she wanted to follow her dad's footsteps and play for the University of Texas. She is only in 7th grade and she made a verbal commitment to the University this past weekend. 

Brittany Griner

6 foot 8 inch basketball star Brittney Griner scored an outstanding 117 points in the WNBA playoffs. Accompanied by Diana Turausi, they led the Phoenix Mercury to a 4th championship. She averaged 16.7 points per game in the playoffs, compared to the 15.6 she averaged during the regular season. I think it's safe to say Brittney Griner has what it takes to compete in championship situations. 

One last game

Lauren Hill, 19, was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor about 3 months ago. She knows she hasn’t got much time left to live, but she's hoping there's enough for her to reach her goal of playing on her college’s basketball team. In what may be a first, the NCAA is trying to help Lauren's wish come true, allowing Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati to move up the date of the season opener to Sunday, Nov. 2. I couldn't imagine life without the game of basketball and wish her the best. 

Lady Patriots Basketball

The American Patriots girls basketball team held tryouts yesterday after school. After a surprising turnout, they narrowed it down to a handful of skillful players. Ending the work out with a 4 on 4 basketball game, the freshman who came out to tryout surprisingly excelled over some of the upper class men. 

Tamika Catchings

Indiana Fever star player Tamika Catchings organized a press conference that acknowledged her intention to retire following the 2016 WNBA season. The three-time Olympic gold medalist and recurring WNBA All-Star has contributed to the Women's basketball association in many ways and will be dearly missed by the association and fans. 

New York Liberty

The WNBA has anounced today that they have not renewed the contract of Bill Laimbeer, the team's general manager and head coach. Laimbeer was the best thing to happen to their program since they won their last championship. He will be missed. 

USA Basketball

The USA Basketball Women's National Team program had a perfect 40-0 record overall in 2014. Winning gold medals at the FIBA World Championship 6-0, FIBA U17 World Championship 7-0, FIBA Americas U18 Championship (5-0), FIBA 3x3 World Championship (9-0) and Youth Olympic Games (13-0).

Additionally, USA Basketball claimed gold in all of its five-on-five competitions in 2014, including the FIBA World Championship (women), FIBA Basketball World Cup (men), FIBA U17 World Championship (men and women) and FIBA Americas U18 Championship (men and women). 

Gold Medal Game

The 2014 USA Basketball Women’s World Championship Team went into the 2014 FIBA World Championship undefeated and claimed a second-straight gold medal at the event with a dominating 77-64 win over Spain on Sunday night at Fenerbahce Arena in Istanbul, Turkey For the tournament, three players averaged double-digit scoring, including Maya Moore-15.3 points per game, Brittney Griner-12.3 points per game, and Tina Charles-10.7 points per game. Tina Charles also led the USA in rebounding with 8.3 rebounds per game. 

 

Road To Gold

After an 82-70 victory over Australia on Saturday night, the USA Basketball World Championship Team is back in the gold medal game.This will be the 10th time in FIBA World Championship history, and the womens team is looking to capture their ninth gold medal at this event.

Tina Charles On the game against Australia:"We knew it was going to be tough. We haven’t taken anything for granted since the start of this tournament. Australia played aggressive, especially without Elizabeth Cambage, who is really their centerpiece. We just answered, we just responded really well."

Saturday Basketball

On Saturday, October 4th, the lady patriots basketball team will be hosting a fall league for local teams to compete. Mater Academy goes up against Nova, which in my opinion, Nova is the more dominant team and likely to win. American plays krop which has always been a good match up. Defending state champions Miami Country Day play Flanagan who will be a tough match but I think Country Day will come out with the win. 

UCONN Basketball Coach

The NCAA has determined that UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma committed a secondary rules violation when he made a phone call congratulating Little League pitching star Mo'ne Davis last month, the school announced Thursday. In my opinion, the call was a congratulatory gesture and no one should be penalized because he wasn't trying to recruit her.