Women’s Basketball: Signee Prahalis Named to 2008 USA Women’s U18 National Team – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State women’s basketball signee Samantha Prahalis was named to USA Basketball’s 12-member U18 National Team Thursday at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. She was one of 35 prep standouts invited to the camp. The selections were made by the USA Basketball Women’s Collegiate Committee, chaired by Sue Donahoe, the NCAA’s vice president of Division I women’s basketball.
The 12 members, born on or after Jan. 1, 1990, include: Kelsey Bone (Dulles H.S. / Stafford, Texas); Sarah Boothe (Warren Township H.S. / Gurnee, Ill.); Alyssia Brewer (Sapulpa H.S. / Sapulpa, Okla.); Ashley Corral (Prairie H.S. / Vancouver, Wash.); Skylar Diggins (Washington H.S. / South Bend, Ind.); Kelly Faris (Heritage Christian / Plainfield, Ind.); Lynetta Kizer (Potomac H.S. / Woodbridge, Va.); Nneka Ogwumike (Cy-Fair H.S. / Cypress, Texas); Samantha Prahalis (Commack H.S. / Dix Hills, N.Y.); Nikki Speed (Marlborough H.S. / Pasadena, Calif.); SheKinna Stricklen (Morrilton H.S. / Morrilton, Ark.); and Joslyn Tinkle (Big Sky H.S. / Missoula, Mont.).
Prahalis, a 5-7 point guard from Commack, N.Y., is the second-consecutive Buckeye to be named to the U18 team after Jantel Lavender, the 2008 Big Ten co-Player of the Year as a freshman, played on the team last summer. Prahalis, a 2008 McDonald’s All-American and the Gatorade Player of the Year in New York, averaged 30.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 7.2 steals her senior season as Commack High School finished 18-3.
“I just feel relieved and really happy to have this opportunity,” Prahalis said. “I was really nervous because I didn’t think I was going to make the team. I didn’t shoot well because I was nervous. I just tried my best to set my teammates up to score, and I tried to be vocal on the floor.
“My focus (this summer) will kind of be the same focus I had during trials. It will be my job to set my teammates up to score. We need to learn to play together as a team if we want to win a gold medal.”
The USA Women’s U18 National Team will train at the USOTC in Colorado Springs from July 10-16 and in Washington, D.C., July 17-20 before departing for the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women. The 2008 FIBA Americas zone qualifier will be contested July 23-27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the top four finishing teams earning a berth to the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship.
Assisting head coach Carol Owens (Northern Illinois University) on the USA sidelines will be Joe McKeown of Northwestern University and Terri Mitchell of Marquette University.
Eleven of the 12 team members return to the red, white and blue from the 2007 USA Basketball Women’s Youth Development Festival, including Speed, who established an all-time Festival record for assists (27). Helping the USA White Team to a 5-0 record and gold medal were Bone, Corral, Diggins, Kizer and Prahalis; playing for USA Blue, which finished in possession of a 2-3 record and the silver medal, were Brewer and Faris; and capturing a 3-2 record and the bronze medal with the USA Red Team were Boothe, Ogwumike, Speed and Stricklen.
In addition to naming Ogwumike its 2008 co-National Player of the Year, Parade Magazine recognized Bone and Diggins as All-America first team selections; while Brewer, Kizer, Prahalis and Stricklen were second team members; and Boothe and Speed were named to the third team.
Gatorade recognized Ogwumike at its 2008 National Girls Basketball Player of the Year and named Boothe (Ill.), Corral (Wash.), Diggins (Ind.), Prahalis (N.Y.), Stricklen (Ark.) and Tinkle (Mont.) as a state Player of the Year.
Eight of the team members will be college freshman in the fall, and four will complete their final year of high school eligibility.
Brewer and Stricklen are headed to the University of Tennessee; Booth and Ogwumike will play for Stanford University; Corral is headed to the University of Southern California; Kizer will attend the University of Maryland; Prahalis is headed to The Ohio State University; and Speed will play at Rutgers University.
In addition to Donohoe, the USA Basketball Women’s Collegiate Committee includes athlete representatives Beth Cunningham (Virginia Commonwealth University), a member of the 1999 USA Pan American Games Team, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Carla McGhee; NCAA appointees include Sherri Coale (University of Oklahoma), Jim Foster (Ohio State University), Trina Patterson (University at Albany) and Tara VanDerveer (Stanford University); Mary “Roonie” Scovel (Gulf Coast Community College) represents the NJCAA; and Wendy Larry (Old Dominion University) was appointed to the committee by the WBCA.
USA Basketball contributed to this report
