Following the entertaining 2025 season, fans were eagerly preparing for the Unrivaled League’s Season 2, which would feature the majority of the WNBA stars in its lineup. However, one news item excited the WNBA fan base as Team USA released a list of probable stars representing the nation at the FIBA World Cup qualifiers. The list featured many young superstars from recent drafts, including top draft picks such as Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, and Aliyah Boston.
While Clark made the Team USA Basketball decision crystal clear heading into the WNBA offseason, many people were unaware of the qualifier games. Now that the list is out, fans showed love to the selected players and reacted with their views on the players in and out of the list.
Fans React To Caitlin Clark And Aliyah Boston’s Team USA Training Camp Invites
Team USA released an 18-player list for the three-day camp at Duke University in Durham starting on December 12. The Los Angeles Sparks have the most representatives (4) on the list, while the Indiana Fever has three members from the 2025 season participating in the qualifier games.
The franchise congratulated all the invitees, including CC, Aliyah Boston and Stephanie White, who will be joining the team as assistant coaches alongside Natalie Nakase and Nate Tibbetts. The post reads, “ready to represent 🤩 Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark have been named to the @usabasketball Women’s National Team training camp roster. Stephanie White will serve as one of the team’s court coaches.”
While Team USA certainly looks talented enough to beat any opponent at the World stage, one exclusion surprised fans as they commented on the post.
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A fan wrote, “Awesome. But @kelz_hoop should be on it too!”
Another fan showed love for CC and wrote, “Love Caitlin but Mitchell should be on there too.”
Another fan corrected the lineup with one change as he wrote, “It should have been Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.”
A fan speculated the reason for Mitchell’s absence and wrote, “Praise GOD, Congratulations to CC & AB!! Kelsey must have had other obligations, because it’s no way she would not have been chosen for this as well.”
A shocked fan wrote, “No Kelsey?…… C’mon she had an amazing season.”
Mitchell had an excellent season with the Fever team, leading them in scoring (20.2 points) in the regular season, while dishing out 3.4 assists in the games. Her clutch plays and explosive scoring ability put the side in the semifinal of the 2025 WNBA playoffs. HC White even keeps Mitchell as the top priority ahead of free agency.
Caitlin Clark Joins Nine Other First Timers For Senior Team Invitation
The Iowa star played for Team USA in the FIBA U-19 World Cup and the FIBA Americas U-16 Championship during her early career. She won a gold medal in all three competitions and claimed the MVP title in 2021. Interestingly, she remains undefeated with the national side, having won all 19 games played so far.
Yet during the 2024 Olympic Games team selection, she was one of the notable names missing from the team. While she showed her capabilities in the regular season and in the All-Star game against Team USA, many expected her to be part of the senior team sooner rather than later.
Now with the national camp call, the Fever guard joins Lauren Betts, Cameron Brink, Paige Bueckers, Veronica Burton, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen, Rickea Jackson, Angel Reese, and JuJu Watkins as a first-timer for the senior team.