After competing against each other in the Big Ten, Diamond Johnson and Caitlin Clark will be teammates this summer.
Two of the country’s top freshmen have been named to the 2021 USA 19U World Cup Team.
The USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Selection Committee announced the nine players including five finalists who will compete in training camp for the final three roster spots.
Clark was the nation’s leading scorer in her freshman season at Iowa. She had eleven 30-point games, the most by a freshman in Division 1 basketball since 2000. Clark was the only player in the country averaging over 25 points, six assists, and six rebounds.
Johnson made her presence felt at Rutgers averaging 17 points and six assists as a freshman. After an iconic Philadelphia high school career, she translated her dynamic and dominant guard play right into college. Johnson, who has since announced her transfer to North Carolina State, scored in double figures in the first 14 games of the season.
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USA19 and UCLA head coach Cori Close said,
“I’m very thankful that I’m not having to make the decisions for the team. I’m really pleased with the versatility of this group, with the ability to shoot the ball, with the physicality of it. So, I’m excited to get this group back together to start practicing because this is a really hard tournament to win and we’re going to have to dig deep to do it. I think the committee selected a group that can get it done.”
Johnson and Clark’s teammates will include the likes of UConn bound Azi Fudd and Stanford commit Lauren Betts.
The 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup will take place August 7-19 in Hungary.
