Former Kentwood basketball star Vandersloot named finalist for women's Olympic team

Former Kentwood High School girls basketball star and Chicago Sky point guard Courtney Vandersloot has been named as one of 25 finalists for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team.

The 25 finalists were selected by the USA Basketball Women's National Team Player Selection Committee, which will select the official 12-member U.S. Olympic Team later this year.

The Women's National Team will conduct a training camp Feb. 21-23 at the University of Connecticut. Athletes taking part in the minicamp, which is expected to be the final training before the 2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team is selected, will be announced at a later date and will come from the pool of finalists.

"Naming the Olympic Team finalists is another step in our selection process," said Carol Callan, USA Basketball Women's National Team director and chair of the USA Basketball Women's National Team Player Selection Committee in a press release. "Because of the quality and talent in the USA National Team pool, every time we pare the list it is a difficult task. Yet, we eventually have to get down to a 12-member team, so we conscientiously look at the present goal of winning a gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games with an eye to sustaining our success in the future. This list of finalists is a mix of veterans, youth, international savvy and USA Basketball experience.

"What adds to the challenge of picking a team is the devotion and commitment all of our athletes have to our USA National Team and representing their country, especially given the year-round play many of them have in the WNBA and on overseas teams."

Vandersloot, a 2007 Kentwood graduate, played for Gonzaga University before being drafted third overall in the 2011 WNBA draft by Chicago.

She averaged 11.4 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game and 5.8 assists per game during the 2015 regular season for the Sky.

Vandersloot currently plays basketball overseas during the WNBA offseason for BGD in Turkey. She played for Orduspor for the first half of the Turkish season.

Other finalists for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team are: Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Tina Charles (New York Liberty), Elena Delle Donne (Chicago Sky), Skylar Diggins (Dallas Wings), Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics), Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury), Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx), Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Briann January (Indiana Fever), Jantel Lavender (Los Angeles Sparks), Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm), Kayla McBride (San Antonio Stars), Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx), Chiney Ogwumike (Connecticut Sun), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks), Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks), Danielle Robinson (San Antonio Stars), Odyssey Sims (Dallas Wings), Breanna Stewart (University of Connecticut), Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx).

"I think the committee has a tough decision ahead of it," said USA and Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, who has directed the USA National Team to an overall 23-0 record and gold medals at the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2010 and 2014 FIBA World Championships. "When I look at this list of athletes, we could split them down the middle and have two very competitive teams. We have a great mix of gold medalists and players who are hungry to play in their first Olympics. There is versatility at all positions. Our posts are the strongest we've seen in years, we have guys who can shoot, guys who can defend, and I'm just happy I don't have to make the decision as to who will be playing in Rio."

UConn Women's Insider: Stewart Established As One Of Program's All-Time Greats

TULSA, Okla. — Breanna Stewart long ago worked her way into the pantheon of superstars at UConn, right up there on the program's Mount Rushmore with Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore.

Remember, there's only so much room on the mountain for profiles. But there should be no doubt the Kevin Durant of women's basketball belongs there.

On Saturday at SMU, in the midst of another humdrum afternoon of American Athletic Conference play, Stewart took a shot at three more milestones that would have forever cemented her place in UConn history.

She fell three rebounds short of becoming only the sixth player in program history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Never fear, that will be taken care of Wednesday when Huskies show up at the Reynolds Center to play Tulsa, a team that's lost five of seven, including a 60-point thrashing by the Huskies at the XL Center on Jan. 6.

She fell three assists and one blocked shot short of registering just the fourth quadruple-double in NCAA Division I women's basketball — and the first for UConn — because the Huskies were beatingSMU so badly by the end of the third quarter, coach Geno Auriemma pulled her from the game after 26 minutes.

By then, she'd come within one block of Kiah Stokes' single-game program record and had joined Kara Wolters as the only UConn players with four straight 50-block seasons.

And then there's this: She fell about 2 inches short of completing the first in-game dunk in program history.

"It would be cool because I am sure it would do a lot for women's basketball," Stewart said. "But it's not like I am dying to do it."

Truth is, Stewart (6 feet 4) and Moriah Jefferson, her All-America point guard cohort, have been talking about the possibility of trying to make it happen. They know the situation would have to be perfect; nothing but open floor space for Stewart to accelerate to the required height.

Olympic Team Finalist List Features Stewart; Team To Train At UConn Next Month

In the first quarter Saturday, Stewart was positioning herself off the side on an offensive possession when she saw the gathering storm — an open lane to the basket and a ball caroming off the rim in her direction. So she gave it a shot. But the timing was just off and the ball wasn't as settled in her hands as she would have liked.

Stewart left the rim rattling and the crowd at Moody Coliseum delirious about what they almost witnessed.

"She was proud of herself," Auriemma said. "Usually when she misses a layup or something, she tries to avoid eye contact for the next couple of possessions because she knows that I can't stand it.

"But [following] this one, she made sure to look over [to the bench] and hold eye contact with me all the way up the floor. I thought she was going to trip over somebody. I wanted to call a timeout and say, 'Get over yourself!'"

Meanwhile, Jefferson was beside herself.

"It is just fun," Jefferson said. "Any time you are on the court when something like that happens … if you noticed, the next couple of plays, we were kind of out of it. I don't even know what we were doing after that, we were really just focusing on [the missed dunk] but those are the type of memories that you are going to remember for a long time. So I am excited to be on the court when that happened."

Auriemma coaches the USA senior national team. Candace Parker and Brittney Griner have dunked, so he knows women can do it.

"I guess, people put a lot of stock into if a woman can dunk," Auriemma said. "It's obvious they can and a bunch of them do and Stewie is no different.

"I've seen her do it a bunch of times in practice. ... We don't go out of our way to create it [in a game] and I wouldn't go out of my way to stop it. If it happens it's great, if it doesn't, well that's fine, too."

And maybe if it happens, Stewart will go to the front of the line when the conversation of UConn greats breaks out again. But for Auriemma and Stewart, it's the 1,000 rebounds that say more about the value of a player.

"People do things because they want to," Auriemma said. "I have always been a big proponent of that. If a kid wants to get 1,000 rebounds, they will get them if they play enough minutes.

"There are a lot of people who can be great rebounders, but they don't want to be. It's hard, rebounding is hard work. It doesn't just happen. Stewie can impact the game anywhere. … She can do everything on the basketball court, so if she didn't get 1,000 rebounds, I would say that she just didn't want to.

"So the fact that she is going to do it? I'm not surprised."