Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Diana Taurasi Headlines 2009 EuroLeague All-Star Roster

Feb. 9, 2009

FIBA Europe today announced the two teams for the 2009 EuroLeague All-Star Game, which will feature two-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi playing for the Rest of the World squad. Joining her are USA Basketball alumni Alana Beard, Candice Dupree, Laura Harper, Crystal Langhorne, Sheana Mosch, Lindsay Whalen and Tamika Whitmore. Taurasi will also compete in the 3-point shooting contest, which will take place during halftime of the March 8 game, held in Paris.

Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles were among the top five vote getters for the Rest of the World Team. However, they got bumped due to a FIBA Europe rule limiting all-star teams to just two players from the same team, and Bird, Fowles, Australian Lauren Jackson and Taurasi compete for Spartak Moscow Region. Jackson and Taurasi both received more votes than Bird and Fowles, thus the two got bumped from the 2009 EuroLeague All-Star Game roster.

Also named to the Rest of the World Team were: American Dominique Canty, Jackson, Mudju Ngoyisa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Brazilian Alessandra Santos.

The players were selected based on a public vote, collected throughout the month of January on www.fibaeurope.com.

Ann Wauters (CSKA Moscow), Agnieszka Bibrzycka (UMMC Ekaterinburg), Anna Vajda (MiZo Pécs 2010), Celine Dumerc (Bourges Basket), and Shay Doron (Besiktas Cola Turka) will start the game for Europe.

Santos (Bourges Basket), Jackson (Spartak M.R. Vidnoje), Dupree (Wisla Can-Pack), Taurasi (Spartak M.R. Vidnoje) and Canty (Wisla Can-Pack) will be the starting five for the Rest of the World.

Catherine Melain, one of the EuroLeague's legendary players was added to the Europe team roster as a wild card entry in recognition of her contribution to the women's game in Europe.

The two acting coaches with the best EuroLeague records in the regular season, Laszlo Ratgeber (Spartak Moscow Region) and Pierre Vincent (Bourges Basket), were selected to coach the two teams. Ratgeber will coach the Rest of the World team while Vincent will be at the helm for Europe. They will be joined by Gundars Vetra of UMMC Ekaterinburg (Europe) and Lubor Blazek of ZVVZ USK Prague (Rest of the World).

The All-Star Weekend will feature a photo opportunity and a number of social activities for the players on Saturday, March 7 before the game and a 3-point shootout on Sunday March 8.

The game's venue is the Stade Pierre de Coubertin at 82, Avenue Georges Lafont in Paris.