Paige Bueckers, rookies bring swag to Team USA camp

The U.S. women’s senior national basketball team is one of the most dominant in history, winning eight consecutive Olympic golds dating back to the 1996 Atlanta Games. Many of the young stars vying for a chance to represent Team USA in Los Angeles in 2028 weren’t born when the medal streak began.

Ten of the 18 players invited to the Team USA training camp at Duke University over the weekend are set to make their senior national team debut, forming a youthful core Paige Bueckers nicknamed the ‘young and turnt’ crew.

‘Great name,’ Sonia Citron said Thursday. ‘That sounds like (Bueckers). I love the name.’

Despite the bold moniker, the first-timers carry a cool confidence. The Team USA training camp offers a mix of experience and youth, especially at the guard position, but the rookies feel like they belong. Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron and Veronica Burton are among the rookies at Team USA camp, in addition to Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Lauren Betts, Cameron Brink, Kiki Iriafen, Rickea Jackson and JuJu Watkins.

‘There’s a level of excitement for sure. There’s a confidence too,’ Veronica Burton added. ‘These bigger stages can be a little daunting at times, but I think that there’s a confidence that everyone who’s here belongs here.’

USA BASKETBALL: Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese invited to Team USA camp

Bueckers, who is coming off a national championship at UConn before winning WNBA Rookie of the Year, is ready to learn from everyone in camp.

‘Our generation and our young core is the ‘young and turnt’ core, so that’s the kind of vibe that we want to bring to this camp,’ Bueckers said.

‘There’s some vets and there’s the older class who have already came in and won gold medals and they have that experience. So as a younger group you want to ask them questions, soak it up, be a sponge, get their experience, and then grow in our experience.’

Veteran bigs vs. rookie point guards

The point guard position is often hailed as the leader of any team. Think of six-time gold medalist guard Diana Taurasi, who retired earlier this year after becoming the most decorated basketball player in Olympic history. Point guards are the on-court quarterbacks. They run the offense and control the ball.

But unlike previous years, Team USA’s youth will be primarily at the point guard position. The realization recently dawned on USA women’s national team managing director Sue Bird, who compared the team’s current cycle to the ‘Lisa Leslie kind of years, where she was always, like, a vet, but she always had Dawn (Staley).’

‘For a really long time, our vets on the team were in the guard spots,’ Bird added on Thursday. ‘And now, if you look at the past Olympic team, you’ve got A’ja (Wilson), you’ve got a (Napheesa Collier), you’ve got (Breanna Stewart) … all of our post players have the most gold medals.’

USA women’s basketball does have experience and depth at the point guard position between gold medalists Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, who were all invited to the training camp. Citron said she’s ‘excited to really learn from them all,’ especially her fellow Notre Dame alum.

‘There’s nobody that I wouldn’t take advice from that has been on this team, but I think Jackie Young, just because again, she’s one of the Notre Dame greats,’ Citron said when asked if there’s a certain veteran she gravitates toward. ‘I’ve heard so much about her and I’ve spoken with her a couple of times, but never really got to play alongside her for real because I don’t think (WNBA) All-Star really counts.’

Bird said the training camp will be a crucial time to not only evaluate players, but help them build experience to bridge that gap: ‘You want to have people who have been there, of course, but you also need to, like, keep the pipeline going with the younger players and get them experienced. That always, that balance is always existing. It just sometimes it looks a little different. So we’ll see how this one shapes up.’

Paige Bueckers: ‘Fun to share the court’

The newcomers may be stepping into new territory with the U.S. women’s senior national team, but there’s a level of familiarity and comfort amongst the players on the court. When Bueckers last suited up for Team USA at the FIBA Under-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2019 — which ‘feels like ages ago now’ — Bueckers won gold alongside Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Cameron Brink.

‘We’ve been competing against each other for so long these past couple years, whether it be college or last year in the (WNBA),’ Bueckers said. ‘I played with a few of them at the Under-19, 16, and 17 levels and we did really well and it was great competing with them for a change instead of against them. We all really bring the best out of each other. That’s what USA basketball does … It’s really fun to be able to share the court and be on the same side for a change.’

Burton recently helped the U.S. women win gold at the 2025 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup last month. The senior level is ‘newer’ to Burton compared to the 3×3 event, but she said the mindset remains the same.

‘There’s always a lot to take away from any USA basketball event,’ Burton said. ‘The level of professionalism that you show up there with and compete with — you’re playing with and against the best. So even within our training camp beforehand, we’re just competing at the highest level. So just a mindset of beating everyone, winning gold and taking that back here was really big.’

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