August 28, 2006 • Colorado Springs, Colorado

• mp3: Listen to Parker, Pondexter and Snow discuss what they bring to the table and their excitement about being at the USA training camp.

Candace Parker

Cappie Pondexter

Michelle Snow

Three players, including Candace Parker (Tennessee / Naperville, Ill.), Cappie Pondexter (Phoenix Mercury) and Michelle Snow (Houston Comets), have accepted invitations to train with the 2006 USA Basketball Women's World Championship Team in hopes of securing one of the final two spots on the 12-member squad, USA Basketball announced today. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith (Sacramento Monarchs), who was named to the squad on Aug. 1, has withdrawn from the team. The USA's training camp tips-off Aug. 29 at Duke University (N.C.) and will conclude with a Sept. 7 clash against 2004 Olympic silver medalist Australia at Duke.

The 15th FIBA World Championship is scheduled to be played Sept. 12-23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The player selections were made by the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee, chaired by Reneé Brown, the WNBA Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations. In addition to Parker, Pondexter and Snow, several players who will compete in the WNBA Finals are also under consideration for one of the final roster spots.

"Yolanda is a skilled player with not only two Olympics under her belt, but also years of international experience," said USA and Seattle Storm head coach Anne Donovan. "Losing her is hard, but we'll have to focus on the players we have on the team as well as those who are coming in to try and earn a spot. All three of these players have had experience with USA Basketball at the senior level, they all came out this spring and I'm excited to see how they'll fit into the group of players we already have. I still believe, even with the loss of Yo, that we have a tremendous mix of youth and veterans as we look to the World Championship."

"I didn't feel that I would be able to play at 100 percent and I also need to spend some more time at home with my daughter, Candace," said Griffith. "Because of that, I decided to step aside to let someone else have my spot on the team. I have played in two Olympic Games and would love to play for USA Basketball again in the future, but at this time I just don't think it would be fair to my teammates. This was not an easy decision to make and I wish the team the best of luck in Brazil."

The United States is looking to continue at the 2006 FIBA World Championship building upon the success it has experienced over the last decade in the international arena. Since the 1996 Olympic Games the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team has posted five consecutive gold medals at the Olympics and FIBA World Championships. Not only have the American women finished on the top of the podium, they have posted an unblemished 42-0 record, an unparalleled streak over the past decade among U.S. women's traditional team sports. Additionally, the United States is No. 1 in the world in every age group after also claiming gold at the 2005 FIBA U19 World Championship and 2003 FIBA U21 World Championship.

The 10 members of the 2006 USA World Championship Team include Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Alana Beard (Washington Mystics), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks), DeLisha Milton-Jones (Washington Mystics), Katie Smith (Detroit Shock), Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets). The eventual 12-member team will be finalized prior to the squad departing for Brazil on Sept. 8.

The Donovan-led U.S. squad will seek to defend its World Championship title at the 15th FIBA World Championship, scheduled to be played in Sao Paulo. Behind the play of 2002 FIBA World Championship MVP Leslie, as well as Bird, Catchings, Milton-Jones, Smith and Swoopes, the United States captured the ‘02 gold medal, successfully defending it's 1998 World Championship crown.

The U.S. owns a record seven gold medals, one silver and one bronze at the World Championship, while compiling an 80-20 (.800 winning percentage) record, including a 19-0 winning streak that dates back to the 1994 bronze medal game.

Donovan will be assisted on the sidelines by Connecticut Sun head coach Mike Thibault and collegiate head coaches Gail Goestenkors of Duke University (N.C.) and Dawn Staley of Temple University (Pa.).

Candace Parker
Parker has been on two USA Basketball squads, winning a gold medal at the 2004 FIBA Americas U18 Championship and assisting the 2006 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team to a 4-1 record and the Australia-hosted 2006 Opals World Challenge last April.

Named to the five-member All-Opals World Challenge Team along with USA teammate Thompson, Parker not only paced the U.S. squad in scoring by a clip of 18.0 ppg., she ranked second among all competitors in the four-team field. She also shot 69.0 percent (40-58 FGs) from the floor to lead everyone in field goal percentage, while contributing a tournament second-best 8.4 rpg. and dishing out 2.0 apg.

As a member of the 2004 USA Junior World Championship Qualifying Team that rolled to a 5-0 record en route to the gold medal, Parker started all five games and averaged team highs of 16.6 ppg., 4.8 apg. and 2.4 bpg, while posting and USA second bests of 8.8 rpg. and 3.4 spg. in just under 20 minutes of action per contest. Additionally, Parker dunked three times during the tournament.

During the 2005-06 season at Tennessee as a redshirt freshman, Parker aided the Lady Vols to a 31-5 record, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Tournament crown and the NCAA Elite Eight. She started all 36 games for UT and led the squad in scoring (17.3 ppg.) and rebounding (8.3 rpg.), while adding a third best 2.9 apg. Parker was listed as one of 30 mid-season finalists for the 2006 Naismith Player of the Year Award and one of 18 finalists for the 2006 John R. Wooden Award, was named to the 2006 All-SEC first team by conference coaches and All-SEC second team by the Associated Press, earned 2006 SEC Rookie of the Year and 2006 SEC Tournament MVP honors. Further, Parker was selected a 2006 Kodak/WBCA All-Region 3 and a Kodak/WBCA All-America finalist.

Cappie Pondexter
A member of six previous USA Basketball teams, Pondexter boasts four golds and one bronze medal in international play. She also assisted the U.S. to the 2006 Opals World Challenge title while competing as a member of the 2006 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team.

The No. 2 selection in the 2006 WNBA Draft, Pondexter missed the USA's first game in Australia and arrived four hours ahead of the USA's second contest. Seeing limited playing time, Pondexter gained valuable senior level experience while playing alongside Olympians Swin Cash (Detroit Shock), Ruth Riley (Detroit Shock), Smith and Thompson.

Pondexter co-captained the 2005 USA World University Games Team that captured the gold medal with a perfect 7-0 record in Turkey and averaged a USA fifth-best 8.9 ppg., while adding 3.1 rpg. and a team-high 23 assists. Acting as the co-captain of the 2003 USA World Championship For Young Women Team that captured the gold medal with a 7-1 record in Croatia, and averaged 5.3 ppg. for that squad.

She also served as co-captain of the 2002 USA World Championship For Young Women Qualifying Team that finished with a 4-0 record and the gold medal in Brazil, was a member of the 2001 USA Junior World Championship Team that posted a 6-1 record and earned the bronze medal, and first donned a USA Basketball uniform while playing for the 2000 USA Junior World Championship Qualifying Team that recorded a 5-0 record and earned the gold medal in Argentina.

Pondexter had a banner rookie season in Phoenix. Playing alongside Taurasi, she finished the year ranked fourth among league leaders for scoring (19.5 ppg.), sixth for assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and 10th for free throw shooting percentage (.853). The 2006 WNBA All-Star was recently named to the 2006 WNBA All-Rookie Team and finished runner-up to Augustus in the 2006 Rookie of the Year voting.

Michelle Snow
Snow participated in the 2006 USA Basketball Senior National Team's March 17-24 European Tour and started one of three games, while averaging 12.7 ppg. and 7.3 rpg. as the USA went 3-0. She also competed with the 2004 USA Senior National Team during its ‘04 European Tour, aided the U.S. to a 6-0 record against top professional and national teams, and averaged 5.8 ppg. and grabbed a team-high (tie) 5.0 rpg.

She first played for USA Basketball as a member of the 2000 USA R. William Jones Cup Team that won the gold medal in Taiwan, and averaged 7.0 ppg. and 5.3 rpg.

Snow has twice seen action on the other side of the court from a USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team. Following her senior season at the University of Tennessee, she was a member of the 2002 WBCA College All-Star Team that faced the 2002 USA National Team and grabbed five rebounds in the collegians' 100-59 loss. Prior to that, Snow collected four points and three rebounds in Tennessee's 65-64 upset win over the 1999-2000 USA Senior National Team - one of just two losses for that year's top U.S. squad.

Drafted No. 12 by the Houston Comets in 2002, Snow is a two-time WNBA All-Star, earning the honor in 2003 and again this past season. In 2003 she was named the league's Most Improved Player after upping her scoring from 3.9 ppg. in 2002 to 9.2 ppg. in 2003, while also improving from 3.7 rpg. to 7.7 rpg.

This past season Snow started all 34 games and averaged career-highs of 13.0 ppg. and 7.9 rpg., while aiding the Comets to an 18-16 record and the WNBA Playoffs.

FIBA World Championship
The World Championship has been contested essentially every four years since 1953. The United States captured the first two gold medals before the beginning of the Soviet domination of women's basketball at the 1959 World Championship. The former USSR put together a string of five straight golds (1959, 1964, 1967, 1971, 1975), before the United States reclaimed gold in 1979. The Soviet Union in 1983 earned its final World Championship crown as the USA went on to capture four of the next five World Championships (1986, 1990, 1998, 2002). The only other nation to break into the gold medal column at this event is Brazil, which defeated the USA in the 1994 semifinals and went on to take the top spot that year.

FIBA conducted on Jan. 31 the official draw to determine the four preliminary round groupings for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and the United States was placed in Group C along with China, Nigeria and Russia. Preliminary round games are scheduled for Sept. 12-14, and the top three teams from each of the four preliminary round groups will advance to the second round for the right to advance to the medal round quarterfinals. Placed in Group A were Argentina, host Brazil, South Korea and Spain; Group B includes Australia, Canada, Lithuania and Senegal; while Group D consists of Cuba, Czech Republic, France and Chinese Taipei.

The 15th FIBA World Championship format will feature a round-robin competition in preliminary round play. The top three teams from each preliminary group advance to form two second round groups consisting of six teams each. Each team's results against advancing teams from its preliminary group carries over to the second round standings, and each team will play the other three teams in the second round group whom they have not faced previously. The top four teams from those two groups will advance to the medal round quarterfinals. The gold and bronze medal games will be played Sept. 23.

2006 will mark Brazil's fourth time hosting the FIBA World Championship: Rio de Janeiro played host in 1957, and Sao Paulo was the site for the 1971 and 1983 Worlds. In all, the United States had mixed success when playing a World Championship in Brazil. The 1957 squad took home the gold with an 8-1 slate, in 1971 the U.S. finished in eighth place with a 6-2 record and in 1983 the USA squad again went 6-2, but returned with the silver medal.