University of North Carolina Athletics
Breland, Lucas Invited To Junior National Team Trials
May 8, 2007 | Women's Basketball
May 8, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. --- North Carolina freshman forward Jessica Breland and signee guard Italee Lucas were among 37 of the nation's top 19-and-under players invited to to compete for a spot on the 2007 USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team at the 2007 USA Basketball Junior National Teams Trials, which will be held May 17-20 in Colorado Springs, Colo. The invitations were issued by the USA Basketball Women's Collegiate Committee, which is chaired by Sue Donohoe, the NCAA's vice president of Division I women's basketball.
USA Basketball will conduct the 2007 Women's Junior National and National Team Trials in order to select finalists for three USA Basketball squads-the U19 World Championship Team, U21 World Championship Team and Pan American Games Team. Trials for all three teams will take place at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
"Our expectations in the USA are to win gold, and to embrace the process of hard work, ultra competitiveness and total team play necessary to achieve that goal," said USA U19 World Championship Team and DePaul University head coach Doug Bruno. "From this pool of 37 players invited to trials, we definitely have the talent to achieve that goal.
"I'm very excited to see how the players that won gold last year have improved. Now that they have experienced a year of USA Basketball competition, I'm looking forward to observing their dedication to the USA program. And I'm unbelievably excited to see so many new additions, many of whom have had a year of college seasoning."
Bruno will be assisted by collegiate head coaches Cynthia Cooper of Prairie View A&M University and Carol Owens of Northern Illinois University.
Breland averaged 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a freshman for the 34-4 Tar Heels. Lucas was a McDonald's, Parade and WBCA All-America as a senior at Centennial High in Las Vegas, Nev.
