Cheryl Reeve, USA Basketball Begin Training Camp Ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics

Cheryl Reeve has been involved with USA Basketball for 10 years, yet she is continuously impressed with the amount of talent there is within the country and around the globe.

That is especially the case this year as the Minnesota Lynx Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations leads the USA Basketball Women’s National Team as it begins preparation for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

“The excitement is the physical abilities (of the players). Obviously, I coach in the WNBA and I coach against these players. It is always really fun to see them all come together to be a team. What is overwhelming is the talent,” said Reeve, who is serving as USA Basketball Women’s National Team Head Coach from 2021-24.

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“These are the best of the best. Every time USA Basketball calls, it’s an honor. The reason why it’s an honor, whether it was me getting the call or players getting the call, is you understand what great company you are in and how hard it is to do,” Reeve continued. “Our league is really, really good. To be selected among a small group, that’s an incredible honor. That’s what always overwhelms me when I’m here, just the talent I get to be around.”

Team USA began training camp on Tuesday, hosting camp over a three-day span in Atlanta. The team will round out its two-game slate of exhibition games on Sunday against Duke University after already facing the University of Tennessee on Nov. 5.

Reeve expressed the importance of being able to get an in-person look at players to begin the process of thinking about what the roster will look like for Team USA heading into the 2024 Olympic Games.

“We appreciate the players making time to be here and to take advantage of this window. And for some, to get a really quality look at them in game situations,” Reeve said. “It’s a great opportunity for them, I think they will tell you that. It’s important that they make the time that they have in terms of our time to be able to spend time together. And also for their individuals goals of trying to make the final roster to represent the national team in Paris.”

A total of sixteen players are taking part in Team USA’s training camp, five of which were members of the 2022 USA Women’s World Cup Team that took home gold in Sydney last fall (Ariel Atkins, Kahleah Copper, Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney and Kelsey Plum).

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“I thought that what we did in Sydney and the identity we established with playing off of our defense and being aggressive. We have a couple things necessary to do that successfully. One being the physical abilities and, two, the depth,” Reeve said. “We want to make sure we are maximizing that. ... We are continuing to build off that.”

With Reeve at the helm of the coaching staff, she is joined by Washington Mystics General Manager and former coach Mike Thibault and Los Angeles Sparks Head Coach Curt Miller as Team USA Assistant Coaches. Atlanta Dream Head Coach Tanisha Wright and Connecticut Sun Head Coach Stephanie White are serving as court coaches with Team USA.

Following training camp and the exhibition schedule, the USA Basketball Women’s National Team will participate in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in early February before hosting training camp during the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Cleveland.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 26-Aug. 11, 2024 in the biggest event ever organized in France.

Reeve was an assistant coach for the USA Basketball Women’s National Team that helped Team USA claim gold in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games, as well as the 2014 and 2018 FIBA Women’s World Cups. She also led Team USA at the 2022 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament and the 2022 FIBA World Cup.