Former South Plains Community College Standout Sheryl Swoopes Added To 2004 USA Senior National Team

Former South Plains Community College Standout Sheryl Swoopes Added To 2004 USA Senior National Team

Swoopes brings offensive firepower and defensive intensity to the 2004 Women's Senior National Team

USA Basketball announced that 1996 and 2000 Olympic gold medal winner Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets) has been named to the 2004 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team core group. Swoopes, who was selected by the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee, adds offensive firepower and defensive intensity to the already talent-stocked core group that is expected to represent the United States at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

"Wow, that is an elite group," said Swoopes when asked what it will be like in August to add her name to a group of players who are at least three-time Olympians, which will include Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks / 1996, 2000, 2004) and Dawn Staley (Charlotte Sting / 1996, 2000, 2004), along with USA assistant and WNBA Seattle Storm head coach Anne Donovan (1980, 1984, 1988), Teresa Edwards (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000) and Katrina McClain (1988, 1992, 1996). "I have nothing but utmost respect for all of them. Having had the opportunity to have played with Lisa, Dawn, Katrina and Teresa in previous Olympics was a lot of fun for me and a tremendous honor. To be included in anything with players like them, as well as Anne Donovan, unfortunately I wasn't able to play with her or against her, but I think Anne's a tremendous person. She's a great coach and having played under her, with her being coach Chancellor's assistant (in 2002) was a lot of fun for me and very exciting. I'm definitely very honored to be included in such a tremendous group of talented people."

Swoopes was a two-time all-America and all-region selection at South Plains Community College in Levelland, Texas. She scored a career 1,381 points (25.6 ppg) in two seasons and holds the NJCAA career scoring mark for the years 1975-1991 (the NJCAA had only one division for those years). During the 1989-1990 season she led South Plains to a 27-9 record and a sixth-place finish at nationals, where she was chosen to the all-tournament team. South Plains recorded a 25-4 record during her second season.

Chaired by WNBA Vice President of Player Personnel Renee' Brown, the Committee previously selected Leslie, Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Shannon Johnson (Connecticut Sun), DeLisha Milton-Jones (Los Angeles Sparks), Katie Smith (Minnesota Lynx), Staley and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets) as core members on Oct. 8, 2003. The final four additional players will be named at a later date.

"Anytime you add a player like Sheryl Swoopes, you're adding someone who is tremendously talented," said USA and Houston Comets head coach Van Chancellor. "At the same time, she has that international experience which is so important in Olympic competition. And from that standpoint, I'm really excited about adding Sheryl. It's also good to have Sheryl because she has played for me for seven years, so she understands me and I understand her. That's a tremendous advantage for me in trying to relate certain things that I want them to do, so that's really good."

"The Committee is excited to have Sheryl join the 2004 USA National Team," said Brown. "Her talent and experience will make the team stronger. She has a history of success at this level with USA Basketball and we are delighted to have her on the team. Now that we have eight strong core players, the Committee is looking forward to filling out the 12-member team around this talented group."

"This will be a great experience," said Swoopes, who has played under USA head coach Van Chancellor for seven years in Houston and was a member of the Chancellor-led 2002 USA World Championship Team. "Lots of times there's great pressure on you as a player when you go into a situation where you're playing for a coach you're not very familiar with and you haven't had the opportunity to play for him or her before, but I think this situation will be a lot different. Not only for myself or Tina, but for everyone. Coach Chancellor is an easy guy to get along with and he's a really easy guy to play for. We had the opportunity to play under him at the World Championship. So everyone who's on this team, myself, Tina, Lisa, Dawn, Tamika, we all know what coach Chancellor expects. He's all about business on the floor. When it's time to go out, play and take care of business he definitely gets the best out of you, and I think that is going to make this National Team experience that much more fun.

"Every year it seems like the same countries are up there," continued Swoopes. "And every year the other countries seem to be getting a lot better. I definitely feel that Australia is going to be good with Lauren Jackson, she's such a great talent and continues to get better. But if I had to narrow it down to one, I'd have to say Russia. Russia has tremendous talent and they're finally getting to the point where they know what it takes to win. They feel they have what it takes to beat the U.S. We have that target on our backs because we are the U.S. and everyone wants to beat us, so we know we have our work cut out for us. We have to be ready to go out there and play every single game, not take any team for granted and hopefully come back home with the gold medal."

A member of seven previous USA Basketball squads, Swoopes got her start in the red, white and blue on a pair of squads in 1994. She helped the ‘94 USA Goodwill Games Team to a gold medal and was a member of the 1994 USA World Championship Team that finished with the bronze. She was named to the 1995 USA Pan American Games Team, but the event was canceled after too few teams entered. Returning to the court as a member of the historic 1995-96 USA Women's Senior National Team and gold medal winning 1996 U.S. Olympic Team, Swoopes helped the Americans compile a combined 60-0 record against national and international competition. In 1999 Swoopes helped the USA National Team finish 4-1 during its winter tour against top national and club teams in Europe. Following the 2000 WNBA season, Swoopes helped the U.S. compile a 5-0 exhibition record before claiming the Olympic gold medal in Sydney with a perfect 8-0 slate. Most recently Swoopes helped lead the 2002 USA World Championship Team to the gold medal at the FIBA Worlds in China with a 9-0 record, as well as a 4-0 exhibition record and the 2002 Australia-hosted Opals World Challenge crown.

Signed by the WNBA and assigned to the Houston Comets in 1997, Swoopes aided the Comets four consecutive WNBA titles (1997-2000) and averaged 14.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.1 steals a game overall in Houston's four championship runs.

The 2000 and 2002 WNBA Most Valuable Player, Swoopes has earned a trio of WNBA Defensive Player of the Year honors (2000, 2002, 2003) and was named All-WNBA first team four times (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002) and All-WNBA second team in 2003. Additionally, Swoopes was the leading vote getter for the 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003 WNBA All-Star Games.

In her six seasons in the league, Swoopes has compiled impressive averages, including 17.2 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 3.3 apg. and 2.48 spg. Further, Swoopes currently ranks second among all-time league leaders in steals (407), sixth in points (2,821), 12th in assists (543) and tied for 20th in rebounds (862). A member of the 1997 WNBA All-Star Team that toured Europe, Swoopes in 1993-94, played 10 games in the Italian league with Basket Bari and averaged 23.0 ppg.

2004 Olympic Games
Chancellor will lead the U.S. in its defense of its No. 1 world ranking at the 2004 Olympics and will be assisted by Donovan. The USA's two additional assistant coaches, who will be collegiate head coaches, will be announced at a later date. The XXVIII Olympic Games will feature national teams from 12 nations competing Aug. 13-29 in Athens, Greece.

The USA owns a 34-3 overall record (.919 winning percentage) in Olympic competition and has won a record four golds, one silver and one bronze medal in the six previous Olympic basketball competitions in which the U.S. competed. The United States, which earned the silver medal at the inaugural Olympic women's basketball tournament in 1976, earned its first gold at the ‘84 Games in Los Angeles and captured its most recent gold with an unblemished 8-0 record in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

With the exception of host Greece and the United States, which earned its Olympic qualifying berth by virtue of its 2002 World Championship gold medal finish, teams were required to qualify through zone qualifying tournaments for the 2004 Olympics. Earning the 10 remaining spots among Athens competitors were: Australia (Oceania #1), Brazil (Americas #1), China (Asia #1), Czech Republic (Europe #2), Japan (Asia #2), New Zealand (Oceania #2), Nigeria (Africa #1), Russia (Europe #1), South Korea (Asia #3) and Spain (Europe #3).

The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee which selected the coaches and the 2004 USA team members, consists of eight members and a non-voting chair. Brown serves as chair of the Committee, which includes New York Liberty Senior Vice President and General Manager Carol Blazejowski; Indiana Fever Chief Operating Officer Kelly Krauskopf; Sacramento Monarchs General Manager Jerry Reynolds; Phoenix Mercury Vice President of Operations Seth Sulka; Los Angeles Sparks General Manager Penny Toler; and Stanford University head coach Tara VanDerveer, who piloted the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team to a gold medal. Serving as athlete representatives are Staley, 1996 and 2000 Olympic and 1998 World Championship gold medal winner; and Lynette Woodard, a 1984 Olympic and 1990 World Championship gold medalist.

2004 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team