Press Release :: Women's Basketball Coaches Association

ATLANTA, Ga. - The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced today the nation’s top 20 girls’ basketball players selected to participate in the 16^th annual WBCA’s High School All-America Game presented by Nike.

The players who have been chosen will be divided into two teams of ten players. The college-style regulation game is scheduled for Saturday, March 31, at Cleveland State University’s Woodling Gym in Cleveland, Ohio.  The game is scheduled to tip-off at 4:30 p.m. (ET). This highly-anticipated event is part of the WBCA National Convention, which takes place at the site of the NCAA® Women’s Final Four®. 

“As in the case of the last 16 years, the WBCA High School All-America Team Selection Committee has done a great job assembling twenty of the best high school players in the country for this season’s roster,” said WBCA CEO Beth Bass.  “The WBCA is honored to play host to the High School All-America Game presented by Nike, continuing to showcase the future stars of our game.” 

Below is the list of players selected to participate in the 2007 WBCA High School All-America Game presented by Nike:

“The nine person WBCA All-American Selection Committee has the arduous task of selecting the top twenty high school players in the country.  The committee spent several weeks prior to the selection collecting data, e-mailing and calling coaches throughout the USA,” said Committee Chair Gary Glasscock.  “The process is very tedious, but once again the committee did an outstanding job in selecting the top players from across the country.”

A committee of WBCA-member high school coaches who represent nine geographical districts from across the nation selected the All-America squad.  The 2007 WBCA High School All-America Game Selection Committee is comprised of: Gary Glasscock (Chair – St. Louis Metro Academic and Classical High School), Stacy Bilodeau (District 1 – Walpole High School), Bob Mackey (District 2 – Christ the King High School), Barbara Nelson (District 3 – Providence Day School), Reggie Lee (District 4 –Brookhaven High School), Kelly Flynn (District 5 – South Sioux City High School), Samantha Morrow (District 6 – Mansfield Summit High School), Gail Hook (District 7 – Monarch High School), James Anderson (District 8 – Narbonne High School), Rachel Powell-Moore (District 9 – Cleveland High School), Brad Smith (Past Chair – Oregon City High School) and Stephanie Baron (WBCA Staff Liaison).   

This marks the 16^th year that the WBCA has sanctioned a girls’ high school all-America team.  The inaugural WBCA’s High School All-America Game presented by Nike was held April 17, 1992 at Oman Arena in Jackson, Tenn.  The second and third annual games were also played at Oman Arena.  The 1995 game, which marked the beginning of Nike's title sponsorship, was played in Altoona, Penn.  The event moved east to Philadelphia in 1996 and south to Nashville in 1997. The game was then held in Hartford, Conn. from 1998 until 2002.  The game made its debut as part of the “WBCA Night of All-Stars” in 2003 and now stands on its own at the sight of the WBCA National Convention each year. 

"Nike is honored to be involved with the WBCA High School All-America Game. This game recognizes the top high school players in the country and gives them a chance to come together and compete the weekend of the NCAA Women's Final Four," said Mary Thompson, Nike’s Girls High School and Elite Youth Basketball Manager. "We recognize the importance of women in sports and would like to congratulate all the participants!"

The 2007 class of WBCA All-Americans joins the list of well-known past participants such as: Tamika Catchings, Chamique Holdsclaw, Katie Smith, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Alana Beard.

The following 20 players have received Honorable Mention for the 2007 WBCA’s High School All-America Game presented by Nike:

The Nike Co-Captains are the WNBA Detroit Shock’s Katie Smith and Chicago Sky’s Candice Dupree.  Smith is a Kodak/WBCA All-American (1996) and played on the very first High School All-America Team in 1992.  Dupree played in last year’s WBCA All-Star Challenge game. Smith and Dupree will be available for an autograph session at 4:00 p.m. (ET).

Fans can order tickets by visiting Ticketmaster. Tickets for the WBCA’s High School All-America Game presented by Nike start are $15.00 for general admission.

About Nike

If you have a body, you are an athlete.  Bill Bowerman said this a couple of decades ago. The guy was right. It defines how he viewed the world, and it defines how Nike pursues its destiny. Nike is a language of sports, a universally understood lexicon of passion and competition. What started with a handshake between two running geeks in sleepy Eugene, Oregon, is now the world's most competitive sports and fitness company. The world headquarters is in Beaverton, Oregon. The Pacific Northwest is Nike's hometown, but like so many ambitious souls, they have expanded their horizons to every corner of the world. Nike employs approximately 25,000 people, and every one of them is significant to their mission of bringing inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.  As small as they feel, the Nike family is a fairly vast enterprise. They operate on six continents. Their suppliers, shippers, retailers and service providers employ close to 1 million people. The diversity inherent in such size is helping Nike evolve its role as a global company. If you have a body, you are an athlete. And as long as there are athletes, there will be Nike. For more information on Nike, visit www.nikebiz.com.

Founded in 1981, the WBCA promotes women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game in all of its aspects as a sport for women and girls. For more information about the WBCA, please visit WBCA.org.