Russ Davis of Vanguard University and Sharon Thompson of East Mississippi Community College Named Court Coaches For 2009 Women's National Team Trials

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 8, 2009) - Russ Davis of Vanguard University (Calif.) and Sharon Thompson of East Mississippi Community College have been selected to serve as court coaches during the 2009 USA Basketball Women's National Team Trials, USA Basketball today announced. The trials will be held May 14-17 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. As court coaches, Davis and Thompson will work with the approximately 60 athletes who will be vying for spots on the 2009 USA U19 World Championship and USA World University Games squads.

"I am honored to participate again with USA Basketball," Davis said. "It is great to be a part of such a great organization and to get to work with the best women's college basketball players in the country."

"It is an incredible honor and privilege to be invited to work with such a prestigious organization as USA Basketball," Thompson said. "I see this as a great learning experience and an opportunity to better myself as a young coach. Working with USA Basketball will be an experience that I will never forget."

The 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship features 16 national teams comprised of athletes 19-years-old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 1990) that qualified through their FIBA zone tournaments. The championship will take place July 23-August 2 in Bangkok, Thailand. Included in the field of nations are: Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Lithuania, Mali, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia and the USA.

University of Northern Illinois head coach Carol Owens was named head coach of the 2009 U19 World Championship team, while Amanda Butler of the University of Florida and Bill Fennelly of Iowa State University will serve as assistant coaches.

The World University Games is a multi-sport competition organized by the International University Sports Federation and held every other year. The 2009 women's basketball competition will take place July 1-12 in Belgrade, Serbia. Participants must be between 17 and 24 years old and either a current college student or have attended a college or university within the past year.

Tabbed as head coach of the 2009 World University Games Team was Arizona State University's Charli Turner Thorne, with Suzy Merchant of Michigan State University and Julie Rousseau of Pepperdine University joining her as assistant coaches.