Canada Basketball announced the 12 players who will be heading to Europe to play five international friendlies between Saturday-June 2 and notably missing from the list is UConn star Kia Nurse, who has been the team's leading scorer in every major international competition in the last couple of years.

Canada Basketball communication manager Bailey Williams said that Nurse will be taking this first stage off. Nurse did take part in the training camps used to select the 12-player team that opens the tour by playing host Spain on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The team heading to Spain and France is headlined by 2016 Olympians Miah-Marie Langlois, Katherine Plouffe and Michelle Plouffe. Current college players Shay Colley (Michigan State) and Bridget Carleton (Iowa State) and Stanford commit Alyssa Jerome are joined by Laura Dally, Saicha Grant-Allen, Ruth Hamblin, Sami Hill, Jamie Scott and Laeticia Amihere.

The team will reconvene in Edmonton next month for the second stage of training followed by a six-game tour in China. The final preparations for the FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2017 will begin on July 23 in Edmonton. Nurse is expected to be a member of that team as Canada looks to qualify for the 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.

UConn's Crystal Dangerfield is the fifth U.S. player named to multiple U-19 national teams and she was joined on the 12-player roster for the upcoming FIBA U19 World Cup by UConn incoming freshman Megan Walker and Class of 2018 recruiting target Christyn Williams.

Dangerfield, the only returning player from the 2015 U19 world championship team, was second on the 2015 team with 14 steals and third with 19 assists. She joins former UConn stars Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck, South Carolina's national player of the year A'ja Wilson and Alexis Jones, currently a rookie guard with the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, as the only players to be on more than one U.S. U-19 team.

Walker joins Harvard forward/center Jeannie Boehm, Texas A&M signee Chennedy Carter, South Carolina guard Tyasha Harris and Oregon forward Ruthy Hebard as members of the 2016 U-18 team to make the squad while Williams is the only player from last year's U-17 national team to be named.
Nine of the 12 players selected are going into their sophomore season of college.

Bella Alarie making the team, there will be a pair of Ivy League products on the team as the U.S. goes after a seventh straight gold medal from July 22-30 in Italy. Texas star Joyner Holmes, the United States Basketball Writers Association's national freshman of the year, Vanderbilt's Kayla Overbeck, Arizona State's Reli Richardson and Alecia Sutton, also out of Texas, were also selected to the team.

This is the sixth straight time the U.S. will compete for the U-19 world title with at least one current or future UConn player on the roster. Walker will be the 13th player with UConn ties to suit up for the U.S. U-19 team. The run began with Rebecca Lobo being a part of the 1993 team and in 2011, five of the 12 players (Stefanie Dolson, Bria Hartley, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Stewart and Tuck) would eventually become teammates at UConn. Williams would make it 14 if she picks UConn.

Williams, who is down to Baylor, Notre Dame, Tennessee, UCLA and UConn, is the only player with remaining high school eligibility to be named to the team.

UConn incoming freshman Mikayla Coombs and Class of 2018 commit Charli Collier were among the 33 players who competed for the 12 roster spots.

In several months time Crystal Dangerfield will be throwing passes to talented freshmen Mikayla Coombs and Megan Walker in practices and games at UConn. However, she doesn't need to wait that long to get used to sharing the court with her soon to be college teammates.

Dangerfield, the only player in the U.S. U-19 training camp who was a member of the team to win the  2015 FIBA U19 World Championship, has relishing the chance to develop chemistry with Coombs and Walker.

"Mikayla, she is out here playing defense, getting steals, getting her hands on the ball, knocking down 3s and playing really well," Dangerfield said. "Megan, she is doing her thing. Smooth is all I can say about her, she is hitting those shots and running the floor really well."

Two years ago Dangerfield has the chance to play with Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson. All three of the future Huskies made the U19 team but Samuelson relinquished her spot to tend to some family business. Collier was the leading rebounder and No. 1 scorer on the gold-medal winning team while Dangerfield was second on the squad with 14 steals and third with 19 assists in seven games.

"It definitely helps," Dangerfield said. "Playing with Napheesa, during the year a pick and roll with her, it is (as simple as) breathing almost, it is easy. Just being able to play with both of them, they have been on my team (in 5 on 5 drills) and being able to build the chemistry before we get on the campus at the end of the month so when we get in there, we will keep building on it."

The 12-member team will be announced tomorrow. UConn Class of 2018 commit Charli Collier and Class of 2018 recruiting target Christyn Williams are also among the 33 players vying for spots on the team.

UConn recruiting target Christyn Williams in action during U.S. U-19
trials at U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado
(photo courtesy of Jenny Johnston/USA Basketball)

It would be easy to excuse the youngest player in Colorado Springs for the U.S. U-19 national team trials to be a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all.

A total of 23 of the 33 vying to be a member of the 12-member team playing in the FIBA U19 Women's World Cup have already played a year of college ball. However, highly-touted high school senior to be Christyn Williams is no stranger at the concept of playing against older players since it is something she has done countless times in AAU ball.

"I feel like the first couple of drills, I've noticed that I can keep up with them so I can (look ahead) to my freshman year of college and how I am going to do," Williams said in a phone interview after Friday's second practice session. "I really have an advantage because I compete with some of my potential teammates or people I'll play in college. It has given me a big head's up.

"I've always played against people two or three years older than me so that is why it is so weird in AAU now because we are in the old group and I am not used to it. Everybody I am playing against is either my age or younger. It hasn't been much of a change because I have been playing up a lot."
The 5-foot-11 Williams has cut her list to a final five of Baylor, Notre Dame, Tennessee, UCLA and UConn.

Tennessee is represented at the trials by incoming freshman Evina Westbrook. UConn guard Crystal Dangerfield is in Colorado as are signees Mikayla Coombs and Megan Walker and Class of 2018 UConn commit Charli Collier.

"A lot of the girls will be there on my official visits so when I get on campus, I will know them already," Williams said. "It's been pretty cool being able to play with them to see how we play together."

I'll refrain from asking Dangerfield, Coombs and Walker to comment on Williams since it could be viewed as an NCAA violation since all are part of the UConn program and Williams is an uncommitted recruit.

Williams, the two-time Gatorade state player of the year in Arkansas, is a dynamic offensive player who averaged 26.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game as a junior at Central Arkansas Christian. There is another aspect of her multi-faceted game she is looking to show off at the trials.

"My defensive showing that I can guard off the ball and on the ball because they know that I can score from previous USA Basketball experiences," Williams said.

That scoring prowess was on display last summer as Williams was the second-leading scorer and had a team-high 10 3-pointers for the U.S. team which earned the bronze medal in the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women. She had 20 points in a hard-earned 59-55 win over Italy and 17 points in a 56-45 victory over France in the quarterfinals.

Williams figures to be busy in September and October taking her five officials visits before making her decision "before the high school season starts next year. People say that recruiting process is stressful but it's been pretty fun with me. I am just enjoying it."

I haven't seen Central Arkansas Christian's schedule for the upcoming season but the team opened the 2016-17 season on Nov. 15.

 For the first time, 15 Connecticut Sun games will be televised on CSN New England during the 2017 season beginning with the May 26 game against the Minnesota Lynx.

Other CSN New England broadcasts include games against Washington (5/31),  Atlanta (6/10), Dallas (6/25), Indiana (7/1), Washington (7/8), San Antonio (7/16), New York (7/19), Washington (7/28), Phoenix (8/4), Atlanta (8/15) and Phoenix (8/20) while games against San Antonio on June 3, Minnesota on June 17 and New York on June 23 will air on a tape delay basis.

Since this is a UConn women's basketball blog, it bears mentioning that every team with a UConn graduate on its roster is featured in the CSN New England schedule except Seattle but the June 29 game between Seattle and Connecticut at Mohegan Sun Arena will air on ESPN2 as will the Sun's game at Minnesota on May 23.

WCCT-TV will televise three of the Sun's road games beginning with Saturday’s game against the Indiana Fever. WCCT-TV will also carry Sun games against Chicago on May 2 and Los Angeles Sparks on Sep. 3.

Bob Heussler will be the play by play announcer for the games on CSN New England and WCCT as he begins his 15th season as a voice of the Sun. He will work with either former UConn star Rebecca Lobo or Sarah Kustok, who is the sideline reporter for Brooklyn Nets games on YES.

Little by little the dates of UConn's non-conference schedule are being revealed.

DePaul announced that it will host UConn on Dec. 8 while the game against Oklahoma at Mohegan Sun Arena is set for Dec. 19 and is the first in a four-year home and home series between the schools.

It was previously announced that UConn will open the season playing Ohio State on Nov. 12 at Nationwide Arena, the site of the 2018 Final Four

.UConn will have an extended road trip later in November with games at UCLA, against Michigan State at the University of Oregon on Nov. 25 and at Nevada on Nov. 28. There will also be a game in Toronto against Duquesne. Duquesne coach Dan Burt has gone on the record saying that Dec. 22 is the date of that game. Texas announced that it will host UConn on Jan. 15. That leaves the only other road game being at national champion South Carolina. If recent history counts for anything, that game could be in February.

UConn will also host California, Louisville, Maryland and Notre Dame.

Also, the American Athletic Conference portion of the schedule (at least the home and away opponents) figure to be announced after the conference's spring meetings which are schedule to end on June 1.

The AAC went from 18 to 16 conference games last season playing Central Florida and Cincinnati on the road, Houston and Memphis at home and the other six teams both home and away. The schedule grid will need to be altered with Wichita State coming into the conference and I'd be shocked if the Shockers' first season in the AAC doesn't include a home date with UConn.

UConn incoming freshman Mikayla Coombs led the Wesleyan School to the Georgia 1A Private School title and now there are a couple additional state titles in her collection.

Coombs ran the anchor leg as Wesleyan won the 4x100 relay at the Georgia 1A Private School Track and Field Championships earlier today at Berry College.

Coombs teamed with Callie Davis, Sutton West and Meagan Lynch to finish in a time of 48.54 to win by 1.1 seconds over Eagle's Landing Christian Academy.

Coombs then ran the leadoff leg as Wesleyan won the 4x400 relay team which won the state title in a time of 4:00.65.

Coombs was named Miss Georgia Basketball, Gatorade state player of the year and the Georgia Coaches Association co-Class 1A North Player of the Year after averaging 16.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 4.2 steals per game to lead Wesleyan to its 12th state title since 2002.

The WNBA season kicks off this afternoon and there are 27 players listed as rookies on the WNBA rosters.

The rookie class includes 20 players taken in this year's WNBA Draft. Eleven of the 12 first-round picks made the roster. No. 2 overall pick Alaina Coates, taken by Chicago, is still recovering from injury. Five players taken in the second round and four others going in round No. 3 made the cut which is a pretty impressive number considering that this was supposed to be a draft lacking in quality players. Two other former third-round picks made the cut (Stephanie Talbot, selected in 2014 by Phoenix and Temi Fagbenle, Minnesota's third-round selection).

The only undrafted player whose collegiate career ended this year is Sophie Brunner out of Arizona State. Phoenix's rookie class is an intriguing one since no first or second round pick are among the newcomers. Third-round pick Alexis Prince is joined by Talbot, Yvonne Turner (who was in training camp with Chicago in 2014) and Emma Cannon, who is six years removed from the end of her collegiate playing days. Dallas also has five rookies on its roster as first-round selections Evelyn Akhator, Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis, second rounder Breanna Lewis and third-round pick Saniya Chong out of UConn.

Here are some notes from the rosters
Chicago has 14 players on its roster as cuts will need to be made when Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot report after wrapping up their overseas obligations

San Antonio is at 13 players for the same reason as Kayla McBride is still overseas

Minnesota has 11 players which is a result of the contracts required for the star-studded roster

UConn leads all colleges with 14 alums on opening day rosters followed by Duke, Maryland and Rutgers with eight each. The 14 players is one shy of the record set by UConn a season ago. Tennessee also had 14 of its former players on WNBA rosters in 2008.

The most players from one college on a WNBA team this season is 3. New York (Tina Charles, Bria Hartley and Kiah Stokes) and Seattle (Sue Bird, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Breanna Stewart) feature three UConn grads. Six of the eight Maryland alums play for Connecticut (Brionna Jones, Lynetta Kizer and Alyssa Thomas) and Washington (Tianna Hawkins, Kristi Toliver and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough

Indiana, Los Angeles and Washington are the only teams with no UConn players. This is the first time in Mike Thibault's 15 seasons as a WNBA coach that he doesn't have a UConn product on his roster.

Shayla Cooper of the Chicago Sky is the only player to make a roster who was taken by a different team in the 2017 WNBA Draft as she was selected 13th overall by Connecticut

Makayla Epps of the Chicago Sky, taken 33rd overall, has the distinction of being the last of the 2017 draft picks to make the cut. Chong (picked 26th), Prince (No. 29) and Lanay Montgomery (No. 30) are the other third rounder to make rosters.

Things have happened so fast that Saniya Chong lost track of the days but she will never forget that moment earlier this week when Dallas Wings coach Fred Williams told the former UConn guard that she was part of the 2017 Dallas team.

"We were all waiting in line, I went in," Chong said of Wednesday's meeting. "It started off as a casual conversation about things and they had told me that I had made the team. I was pretty nervous, I thought that overall I was doing the best that I can but at the same time, it could go both ways."

Veteran guard Erin Phillips was probably the most surprising of the players cut from Dallas resulting in all five of the 2017 WNBA Draft selections making the Wings roster.

"It did surprise me because the vets have been here, they know what they are doing and we have a lot of new people this year but there are only 12 people on the team so somebody had to get cut," Chong said. "It is really surprising but at the end, there are limited spots."

There are some numbers affiliated with the UConn women's basketball program that simply boggle the mind. Here is another one - Chong is the 33rd UConn player taken in the WNBA Draft and when she makes her debut with the Wings, 32 of those 33 draftees will have played at least one regular-season game in the WNBA. The lone exception happens to be Chong's former position coach at UConn, Shea Ralph who was a third round pick by Utah in 2001 but that is more of a case of multiple knee operations preventing Ralph from pursuing a career in professional basketball.

Chong was home in Ossining, N.Y. watching the draft when she saw her name pop up on the screen as Dallas took her with the 26th overall pick.

"I got some calls from the (Wings) president, the coach," Chong said. "I was really nervous as they kept going down and eventually my name appeared on the screen so I was really happy so I got the chance to prove to everybody that I beloged here.

Chong grew up about 30-40 miles from Madison Square Garden but she won't admit to being a regular at New York Liberty games over the years.

"I didn't go consistently," Chong said. "It was definitely a dream growing up, watching the girls and just thinking about it so it is a huge opportunity that I get a chance to do it."

One thing that happened during training camp that I wanted to ask Chong about was the decision to miss her team's second and final preseason game so she took take part in graduation ceremonies at UConn. Some might think she was given assurances that her spot on the roster was secure if she went to graduation but that is not the case.

"I talked to the coaches, they knew that graduation is a huge accomplishment and it wouldn't affect any decisions on me making it or not making it," Chong said. "I had discussed with them a few times about it and I knew I have  to give my all in my first week of practice before I went to graduation."

Chong will wear the familiar No. 12 that she donned at UConn as she was a member of three national championship teams and also at Ossining High School as she had 2,988 points in her four years of high school while averaging 30.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 5.1 steals per game. She had 52 games with at 30 points, 20 with at least 40 points and her four 50-point outbursts included 61 as a sophomore against John Jay.

"I've had it since fifth grade maybe even sooner, kind of a number that I got and I just stuck with it," Chong said.

While the Wings roster features the five rookies, former Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins-Smith is there to help Chong make the adjustment to the pro game.

"I am always asking her questions, she has been a huge supporter and is really helping me out," Chong said.

Connecticut fans will need to wait until August 12 to see Chong in person unless they want to make the trip to New York for a June 2 Liberty-Wings game. The first five games will be played in either Texas or Arizona beginning with Sunday's season opener at Phoenix.

"I'm definitely going to be nervous but way more excited to get going," Chong said.

Former UConn guard Kelly Faris was one of two players waived by the Connecticut Sun as the roster needs to be down to the WNBA maximum 12 players by 5 p.m. today.

Faris was a first-round pick of Connecticut in 2013 who appeared in 112 games during her four seasons with the team making 12 starts.

Faris averaged 2.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists in her time with the Sun. She was the active player with the longest continuous tenure with the team. Alex Bentley and Alyssa Thomas, who joined the Sun in 2014, now hold that distinction.

Former DePaul guard Jessica January, who was taken by Connecticut in the third round of the 2017 WNBA Draft, was also cut.

That left one player to be cut as the last two players to be signed by the Sun - Jordan Hooper and Adaora Elonu were left to compete for one spot. Elonu was informed that she was being waived. Hooper is one of four new players on the roster joining first-round pick Brionna Jones, Danielle Adams and Lynetta Kizer.

What's interesting about Hooper is that the Dallas franchise, then in Tulsa, acquired the second-round pick from the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Kayla Pedersen.

With Faris' departure, there will be 14 UConn players on WNBA rosters to start the season one shy of the record set by UConn in 2016. The 14 alums matches Tennessee, which had 14 of its former players on WNBA rosters during the 2008 season.

It figures to be another busy spring and summer for UConn guard Kia Nurse.

Nurse, a member of Canada's 2016 Olympic team, is one of 33 players invited to Canada's Women's National Team Program Assessment Camp which begins tomorrow in Edmonton. There are two parts to the upcoming schedule with the assessment camp running through Monday and then training camp going from Tuesday-May 22. Then the team leaves for Europe with two international friendlies in Spain - meeting the host country on May 26 and China on May 27. Canada will have three contests in France against Montenegro on May 31, France on June 1 and Ukraine on June 2.

This will be the first international competition for Canada since the announcement that former Olympics Tamara Tatham, Lizanne Murphy and Shona Thorburn have retired from the national team.

When her senior season began, it wasn't even certain if Saniya Chong would have a regular role at UConn but suddenly it is looking like she has made the opening day roster of the WNBA's Dallas Wings. The team currently has 12 players on the roster which is the WNBA maximum. Barring any waiver-wire additions between now and Friday, Chong will be on the opening night roster.

The Wings have announced over the last couple of days that Erin Phillips and Tiffany Bias, guards combined for 179 points and 44 assists for Dallas a season ago, have been cut. The WNBA held its annual preseason conference call and with Dallas' Fred Williams one of the three coaches on the call, I asked him for his thoughts on Chong.

"You come out of a structure, a DNA of a championship organization at UConn and when you have that kind of player, she understands winning," Williams said. "She understands her role as a point guard who can distribute the basketball and set up her team. She has demonstrated in practice and also in games that she played in preseason to show great leadership. I look to utilize her a great deal this season and rely on her great basketball IQ."

The Final Four was in Dallas and Williams was seen at occasional UConn games over the last few seasons so I asked him when Chong was on his scouting radar.

"Ever since she was a freshman," Williams said. "We started way back when and followed her with the possibility to being there at a certain spot in the draft. I thought she has grown through the years and especially during the UConn streak, she got more minutes when the other point guard went into the pros."

Perhaps nobody can appreciate what Chong has done in the last seven months more than her former teammate and roommate Breanna Stewart. She was also on the call so of course I had her weigh in on the possibility of Chong making the cut with the Wings.

"She is my best friend and being with her for the past three years at Connecticut and rooming with her for two of those years, just to see the jump that she made in her senior year and took on a leadership role that nobody really knew if it was there or not but she took it and put herself in a great position in Dallas," Stewart said. "Hopefully she can just keep building opportunities for herself and taking advantage of them." 

In other WNBA news, the Connecticut Sun announced that it has claimed Jordan Hooper off waivers. What's interesting about this move is that the Dallas franchise (then in Tulsa) drafted Hooper in the second round of the 2014 WNBA Draft. That pick was acquired by trading Kayla Pedersen to Connecticut. Pedersen sat out last season but was signed by Connecticut in the offseason. With her overseas commitment dragging on and the Sun apparently liking their options at forward, she was cut without ever reporting to training camp. Now a roster spot is open and taken by the player she was traded for three years ago.

 I'm a little surprised that the Sun did not place a claim on former Temple guard Feyonda Fitzgerald but I guess they feel like either Kelly Faris or Jessica January will serve the role the guard at the end of the bench better than Fitzgerald.

There are some prominent names on the WNBA waiver wire today including the Sun waiving former All-Star guard Allison Hightower, Fitzgerald getting cut by Indiana as did former Penn State star Maggie Lucas.

UConn guard Crystal Dangerfield and three of her future teammates are among those set to take part in the U.S. U-19 national team tryouts later this month.

UConn incoming freshmen Mikayla Coombs and Megan Walker and Class of 2018 commit Charli Collier are also among the 33 players heading to Colorado Springs for the tryouts which run from May 18-21.

Christyn Williams, one of UConn's Class of 2018 recruiting targets, is also heading to the trials as a committee chaired by former UConn star Jen Rizzotti will select the team to play in the FIBA U19 World Cup in Italy.

Dangerfield played on the U.S. team which won the U19 world title in 2015. She was second on the team in both assists (19) and steals (14) and also averaged 6.4 points per game. Napheesa Collier and Azura' Stevens were also on that team. Another interesting note is that of the 12 players on the team, five have either transferred or are intending to do so.

Walker is one of seven players who was on the U18 squad which won the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 title. She averaged 9.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

It's kind of strange to think that Bria Hartley and Stefanie Dolson will not be teammates this season.

They played together for four years at UConn and then three seasons with the Washington Mystics before they were dealt away in a span of four days.

As luck would have it, both of them made their debuts with their new teams at Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday. Hartley had seven points and one assist in New York's 81-65 win over Los Angeles. Dolson was up next as the Chicago Sky faced the host Connecticut Sun.

The end of the Dolson/Hartley on-court partnership is part of a story that should be appearing on the Register's site shortly.

They both were at the Final Four in Dallas watching UConn's quest for a fifth straight national title end with an overtime loss to Mississippi State. The loss brought back some painful memories as their freshman and sophomore campaigns ended with losses in the Final Four.

"I was standing there during the game and my stomach turned and I felt so sick to my stomach
because I genuinely knew exactly how that felt and how disappointing it is to come back to the
hotel, see your family, friends and everything," Dolson said. "It was really hard and I felt really bad for them.

"It is motivating for them next year and the year after. They have a lot of talent so I am sure
they will be good."

Hartley agrees that lessons that can be learned in a Final Four can prove to be beneficial down the road.

"I always think you need something like that to motivate you as players, my freshman and sophomore years I went through the losses in the Final Four and it motivated me for my last two years," Hartley said. "Those young guys like Napheesa and Katie Lou, it is going to motivate them for the next few years."

Getting to see this UConn team, both Dolson and Hartley came away impressed with what they witnessed.

"I think I liked the fact that they so many players who could play all the positions and switch
everything," Hartley said. "Gabby (Williams) goes out there and she improved so much, I love how much she improved throughout her career and I think she is going to have a really good year."

Dolson liked how the UConn team passed every team before falling in the national semifinals even though the team's three stars (Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck) were the top three picks in the 2016 WNBA Draft.
 
"They proved a lot of people wrong," Dolson said. "Going in, a lot of people doubted them and thought they were going to be not terrible but average (by UConn's standards), thought they would lose to all those top 10- teams and were just waiting for them to get that loss and in a good way it didn't happen. The fact that it ended with a loss, it was unfortunate for them but I was really proud of them, They kept going, kept fighting and I guess ran out of steam at the end."

One last note about tonight's doubleheader - Karlie Samuelson who is the sister of UConn star Katie Lou Samuelson started for Los Angeles and had nine points in 29 minutes.