High up on the list of things I do not wish first thing in the morning is the announcement that my flight is being delayed by two hours especially since I had 45 minutes to make my first connection. The only thing worse was the reasoning, a flight attendant failed to show up. Not sure is she (OK, I guess it could be a he) will make it when the flight actual takes off but I would not admit to be the human rain delay in question. The good news is despite the two hour delay, I only land about an hour later than previously scheduled and only need to change planes once. The original itinerary had me going to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Detroit and Detroit to Hartford. I bypassed the Detroit portion of the trip so I guess there is a silver lining.

The extra time gives me a chance to give my opinion of who I would pick to make the Under-19 and World University Games although I have no say in the process (thank God for small miracles in that case).

If recent history counts for anything, there will be about 15 players selected on Sunday before the teams are cut down to the maximum 12-player rosters. I will pick my 12.

Under-19
Sarah Boothe, Stanford: Was sort of streaky as she didn't miss in Thursday's scrimmages and 3 on 3 drills but was off target on a few bunnies on Friday.
Layshia Clarendon, California incoming freshman: Not as highly-touted as the other point guards in camp but more solid and fast, fast, fast.
Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame incoming freshman: Perhaps we should save the formality and hand her the Big East Freshman of the Year award now.
Keisha Hampton, DePaul: Outside of some ballhandling gaffes, she was one of the most impressive players at the U-19 trials.
Shenice Johnson, Miami: Athletic combo guard can play three positions and was a disruptive force on defense, especially in Friday's scrimmages
Lindsey Moore, Nebraska incoming freshman: Last year Joslyn Tinkle, then not very highly-touted, blew me away at the trials as she rightfully earned a spot on the U-18 team. This year it was future Nebraska point guard who caught my eye.
Nneka Ogwumike, Stanford: The best player in the U-19 trials in my opinion
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, North Carolina incoming freshman: I love the way she plays, 100 percent every second she steps on the court.
Taber Spani, Tennessee incoming freshman: One of the few consistent 3-point options in camp.
Da'Shena Stevens, St. John's: This has nothing to do with her being the only Connecticut player at the trials, she was a force at every scrimmage I saw.
Destiny Williams, Illinois incoming freshman: Nobody was more aggressive going after rebounds among the U-19 candidates, also struck me as a team-first kid with tons of leadership skills.
Shawntice "Pepper" Wilson, Pittsburgh: I was more impressed with her at the trials than when I saw her during her freshman season at Pitt.

There are some obvious omissions that might surprise some people led by:
Kelsey Bone who did have stretches where she showed her offensive skill but seemed more affected by the altitude than any other player and just could not catch the ball at the scrimmages I saw.
Kelly Faris made more of an impact when I saw her at the U-18 trials last year. Was not nearly aggressive enough although is the type of low maintainence kid any team would love to have.
Samantha Prahalis actually played better (in my opinion) than she did last year I thought but she is still too turnover prone and to me Clarendon, Moore and Diggins were simply more effective during the trials.
The player who impressed me the most who is not on my list of 12 is guard Sydney Carter of Texas A&M.

WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES
Dawn Evans, James Madison: Nation's second-leading scorer showed she is far from a one-dimensional player.
Alexis Gray-Lawson, California: Just love the way this kid plays the game on both ends of the court.
Whitney Hand, Oklahoma: A stone-cold shooter and scorer.
Allison Hightower, LSU: Really played with intensity on defense
Jantel Lavender, Ohio State: A terrific finisher around the basket
Maya Moore, UConn: Simply the best player there.
Natasha Vital, California: Wasn't blown away by the player of the point guards among the World University Games competitors but she is very solid.
Jayne Appel, Stanford: Could be the No. 1 overall pick in next year's WNBA draft and looked every bit the part for most of the scrimmages.
Tina Charles, UConn: Would team with Lavender and Appel to give the U.S. an unstoppable post trio.
Tyra Grant, Penn State: A little too shot-happy at times but brings an athletic presence to the wing position.
Kayla Pedersen, Stanford: Looked more like the she did as a freshman than as a sophomore as she was hitting shots from everywhere and grabbing tough rebounds in traffic.

After that it gets pretty hard. I would lean to Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot and Doreena Campbell of UCLA over fellow guards Cetera DeGraffenreid (North Carolina), Ashley Houts (Georgia) and Alexis Rack of Mississippi State. Jacinta Monroe of Florida State was also impressive but not sure the team needs another post player. Alysha Clark, the nation's leading scorer as a junior at Middle Tennessee State, did not blow me away and in the time I was there, UConn's Tiffany Hayes was not overly noticeable although her versatility would serve the team well if she make it. I would have included Arizona's Ify Ibekwe but was uncertain about her status after she hurt her right ankle. I never got a definitive report but the fact that she was rolled to the team photo in a wheelchair did not seem like an encouraging sign.

If I was in charge, I would give serious consideration to putting either a Skylar Diggins or Lindsey Moore on the WUG team as well since they impressed me more than many of the point guards among the older competitors.

I will say that a starting five of Evans, Gray-Lawson, Moore, Pedersen and either Appel or Charles is downright frightening from an offensive standpoint.

As I said, it is just one person's take off seeing a few scrimmages. The committee will get the final say.