She had to wait a couple extra days than fellow UConn commits De'Janae Boykin and Katie Lou Samuelson to start showing what she was capable of at the junior national trials and Napheesa Collier didn't find out she was a member of the U.S. U-18 squad until about 10 hours after Boykin and Samuelson were informed that they made the U-17 team. Still, it was worth the wait.

Collier, a 6-foot-1 rising senior forward at Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis, is following in a long long of UConn commits to get valuable time playing in tournament as a member of Team USA. Among those is somebody she shares more than just a college of preference.

Collier began to hit the basketball courts in Jefferson City, Missouri which is the same city when Maya Moore, UConn's all time leading scorer lived as a youngster before moving with her mom to Georgia.

"I was friends with her cousin Jordan and sometimes she used to come back to our games so I used to meet her with my family's friends, my aunts," Collier said.

"It was really cool because she came to our basketball game so I got pictures with her and she used to go the YMCA in Jeff City so sometimes I would go and see her playing. It is awesome and we are going to the same school now so it is cool."