Holt Heads to Pan Am Camp in D.C.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Fifteen finalists for the 2007 USA Basketball Women's Pan American Games Team, including Middle Tennessee's Amber Holt, will reconvene on July 6 in Washington, D.C., to open an 11-day training camp that includes stops at American University, the Washington Mystics Practice Facility and a trip to Georgetown University.
The official 12-member USA Women's Pan American Games Team, headed by Temple University head coach Dawn Staley, is expected to be selected prior to July 15. The USA will battle seven other national teams from FIBA Americas from July 20-24 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 15 finalists were selected after a weekend of trials May 17-20 at the U.S. Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. Holt said she's been working on two aspects of her game since returning from Colorado.
"I've been working on my dribbling and shooting, most of all my dribbling," Holt said. "At the camp it seemed like I couldn't dribble."
The Duluth, Ga., native said she hoped to be a little more relaxed when camp starts on Friday.
"I've never been nervous in my life until the Tennessee game last year. I was nervous the first day in Colorado, but as soon as I got comfortable the second day, things were much better."
The 15 athletes in contention for a spot on the final USA Pan Am Games roster are: Jessica Adair (George Washington/Washington, D.C.); Matee Ajavon (Rutgers/Newark, N.J.); Nicky Anosike (Tennessee/Staten Island, N.Y.); Jayne Appel (Stanford/Pleasant Hill, Calif.) Marissa Coleman (Maryland/Cheltenham, Md.); Krystal Ellis (Marquette/Racine, Wis.); Emily Fox (Minnesota/Highlands Ranch, Colo.); Amber Holt (Middle Tennessee/Duluth, Ga.); Alexis Hornbuckle (Tennessee/Charleston, W.Va.); Chardé Houston (Connecticut/San Diego, Calif.); Tasha Humphrey (Georgia/Gainesville, Ga.); Erlana Larkins (North Carolina/Riviera Beach, Fla.); Angel McCoughtry (Louisville/Baltimore, Md.); Mel Thomas (Connecticut/Cincinnati, Ohio); and Candice Wiggins (Stanford/San Diego, Calif.).
Staley is being assisted on the sidelines by Kathy Delaney-Smith of Harvard University (Mass.) and Bill Gibbons of College of the Holy Cross (Mass.).
Training in D.C, from July 6-16, the finalists open camp with a 7 p.m. (All times are local, EDT) session at the Mystics practice facility at the Verizon Center, followed by 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. sessions at American University's Bender Arena on July 7 and 8. The USA squad then stops at Georgetown's McDonough Arena for a 10 a.m. practice on July 9.
On July 10 and 11, 10 a.m. sessions will be held at the Mystics facility and 5 p.m. practices will be at American University. The finalists will continue to train at AU the next four days, including a practice at 4 p.m. on the 12th, and at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on both July 13 and 14. The squad practices at AU at 9 a.m. July 15 and closes camp at the Mystics facility July 16 with a 10 a.m. session before departing for Brazil later that day.
The finalists roster lists 10 athletes who have previously competed for USA Basketball. Complete information on the team may be found at usabasketball.com.
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