USA Basketball Names Gold Medal U17 Coaches 2012 Co-Developmental Coaches Of The Year

Following perfect records and gold medals at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championships for men and women, USA Basketball today announced Jill Rankin Schneider (Monterey H.S., Texas), head coach of the USA U17 women, and Don Showalter (Iowa City H.S., Iowa), head mentor for the USA U17 men, co-recipients of the 2012 USA Basketball Developmental Coach of the Year award.

The 2012 USA U17 women beat opponents by an average of 35.0 points per game on its way to an 8-0 record and gold medal at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship held Aug. 17-26 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

“Once again, I am very flattered and humbled by the award because I know and appreciate how very talented my players and staff were and how hard they, as well as the entire USA Basketball staff, worked to make our success a reality,” Schneider said. “The fact that we were playing for a World Championship and we were able to go undefeated in winning the gold medal was an amazing experience in itself. The chemistry that we had made an already incredible experience all the better. I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of it all.”

The USA U17 men’s team won its games by 39.9 points per game on its way to an 8-0 record and gold medal at the FIBA U17 World Championship for Men held June 29-July 8 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

“This is very humbling when you look at the coaches that have won this award in the past,” Showalter said. “This award is all about the players I have had an opportunity to coach and a great coaching staff. We all worked together to win the World Championship and bring home the gold medal.

“This award was extremely special as our team had to overcome some injuries to key players, foul trouble in the medal games and some difficult travel experiences,” Showalter continued. “But those things also brought the team together and allowed us to trust each other both on and off the court. This team was just a fun group to be with for the several weeks we were together.”

USA Basketball’s Development Coach of the Year award was established in 1996 to recognize a USA Basketball head coach who, during the year of the award, made significant impact on the success of individual athlete and team performance at the developmental level. The USA Basketball Board of Directors is responsible for selecting USA Basketball’s annual coach, player and team of the year awards.

“Jill and Don not only helped USA Basketball earn two gold medals, they also built teams that played with passion and teamwork, and I know USA teams will be stronger in the future because of the pipeline they helped develop” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball Executive Director/CEO. “I can’t say enough about their commitment and dedication, and we are grateful for their service.”

Schneider (2011 and 2012) and Showalter (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) list among an impressive group of past award winners, including: Barb Nelson (2010), Carol Owens (2008), Doug Bruno (2007, 2006), Joanne P. McCallie (2007), Lorenzo Romar (2006), Kathy Delaney-Smith (2005), Jay Wright (2005), Kelvin Sampson (2004), Jim Foster (2003), Marsha Sharp (2002), Debbie Ryan (2001), Geno Auriemma (2000), Oliver Purnell (1999), Jim Boeheim (1998), Rene Portland (1997) and Mike Montgomery (1996).

Jill Rankin Schneider
Under Schneider’s guidance, the USA successfully defended its FIBA U17 World Championship gold medal and wrapped up an 8-0 record.

“Coach Schneider was really one-on-one, and she established a good relationship with each player off the court,” said Diamond DeShields (Norcross H.S./Norcross, Ga.), who was named MVP of the tournament. “She was able to communicate with us, and she didn’t treat everyone the same. Also, she was really youthful with her energy in practice, the locker room and on the sideline. She made us laugh and put things into a perspective that was easy for us teenagers to understand. She taught us to hold each other accountable, and although we weren’t together for that long, she taught us how to be a great team.”

In its opening game, the USA raced past South Korea for a 131-89 on Aug. 17; followed by an 86-47 victory against Canada on Aug. 18; and a 83-43 rout of Italy on Aug. 19. After a rest day, the USA dispatched Belgium 80-50 on Aug. 21 before wrapping up preliminary round play with a 98-28 blowout of Mali on Aug. 22. The USA’s 70-point win over Mali tied for the largest margin of victory in FIBA U17 World Championship history.

In the quarterfinals on Aug. 24, the USA pulled away from Australia in the third quarter on its way to an 89-68 win, and the semifinals saw the USA use its depth to wear down Canada for an 84-59 victory. In the final contest on Aug. 26, the USA fought off a resilient Spain team for a 75-62 win and the gold medal.

Among all 12 teams at the tournament, the USA ranked No. 1 in 14 of 19 team statistical categories, including points averaged (90.8), average points allowed (55.8), field goal percentage (44.6 percent), 3-point field goal percentage (33.7 percent), rebounding margin (+18.5), assists (17.0 apg.) and blocked shots
(7.7 bpg.).

As a team, the 2012 squad set U.S. U17 single-game records for free throw percentage (1.000 percent, 14-14 FTs), 3-point field goal percentage (63.6 percent), field goals attempted (97), steals (23) and blocked shots (16).

The team also set USA U17 competition marks for field goals attempted (626), 3-pointers attempted, rebounds (482), rebounding average (60.2 rpg.), blocked shots averaged (7.6 bpg.) and steals averaged (15.5 spg.).

Additionally, the USA wrapped up a 4-0 exhibition record. The USA went 3-0 playing in a, round-robin tournament in Caorle, Italy, from Aug. 9-13, beating Brazil 80-34, Australia 103-58 and Italy 86-60, as well as a win against a combination of Brazil’s U17 and U18 national teams on May 31 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.

A 2008 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Schneider completed her 14th season (1998-99 to present) as head coach at Monterey High School in 2011-12, leading her squad to the Texas Class 5A Region I quarterfinal.

So far in 2012-13, Schneider and her team are 7-5 (as of Dec. 19).

Don Showalter
Showalter led the USA to an 8-0 record and the gold medal at the FIBA U17 World Championship, bringing his overall record with USA U16 and U17 teams to a perfect 26-0.

Showalter built a dominate team despite losing Jabari Parker for three games due to a sore foot and the inside force of Dakari Johnson in the fourth game with a groin pull.

“Coach Showalter was a great coach to play for because he was focused on us being great basketball players, a great team and great people on and off the court,” said Jahlil Okafor (), who was named MVP of the tournament. He taught us so many different things.”

The USA opened with a win over Australia 89-67 on June 29; and followed that with a 95-57 victory against Czech Republic on June 30; and a 111-73 rout of Egypt on July 1. After a rest day, the USA blew past France 86-50 on July 3 before closing preliminary round play on the Fourth of July with a 116-47 win over China.

The USA beat Canada in the quarterfinals 113-59 on July 6, defeated Spain 95-66 in the semifinal on July 7 and, in the gold medal game, faced a rematch with Australia, which it won 95-62.

Okafor was joined on the FIBA U17 World Championship All-Tournament Team by Justice Winslow.

Among all 12 teams at the tournament, the USA ranked No. 1 in 15 of 19 team statistical categories, including points averaged (100), average points allowed (60.1), field goal percentage (50.9 percent), 3-point field goal percentage (35.7 percent), rebounding margin (+19.8), steals (13.6 spg.) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3).

As a team, the 2012 squad set U.S. U17 single-game records for field goals attempted (92), field goal percentage (60.3 percent), 3-point field goal percentage (52.9 percent), free throws made (23), free throw percentage (88.5 percent) and rebounds (64).

The 2012 team also set FIBA U17 competition marks for 3-point field goal percentage (35.7 percent), rebounds (438) and rebounds averaged (54.8).

Additionally, the USA tallied a 2-0 exhibition record with wins over Latvia (108-72) on June 24 and Australia (89-64) on June 25 during a friendly tournament in Las Palmas, Canary Islands.

In addition to winning gold medals for the USA, Showalter has returned to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., for four fall training camps to continue to develop the 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2013-14 USA Basketball Men's Development National Teams.

One of the nation's most accomplished high school coaches, Showalter completed his 38th year (1974 - present) as a high school head coach in 2011-12. Through the 2011-12 season, he had compiled a 562-294 record (.657 winning percentage) overall and won 16 district titles.

In 2012-13, Showalter took the reigns as head coach at Iowa City High School, where he is 3-3 at the start of the season (as of Dec. 19).

USA Basketball
Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for men's and women's basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection; training and fielding of USA teams that compete in FIBA sponsored international basketball competitions, as well as for some national competitions.

USA teams are the current men's and women's champions in the Olympics, men's and women's FIBA World Championships; women’s FIBA U19 World Champions; men's and women's FIBA U17 World Champions; and the men's and women's U18 and U16 FIBA Americas Championships; as well as the women’s FIBA 3X3 World Championship and 3x3 U18 World Championship.

USA Basketball also currently ranks No. 1 in all five of FIBA's world ranking categories, including combined, men's, women's, boys and girls.