Cincinnati basketball on display as players, coach join forces on AmeriCup team
Cincinnati's rich basketball tradition was on display from July 1-9 as the USA Women's Basketball team participated in the FIBA AmeriCup in Leon, Mexico. Former high school stars Chance Gray and Laila Phelia, as well as University of Cincinnati head coach Katrina Merriweather were on the team that went 5-2 and took home a silver medal.
"It was a good opportunity for me to just be able to get out there and do whatever I needed to do to help my team," Phelia said.
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The team was composed of college players ranging from 19 to 21 years old and was headlined by 2023 national champion Angel Reese (Louisiana State) and Rickea Jackson (Tennessee).
Phelia, who was a four-time All-Girls Greater Catholic League first team selection and averaged 16.7 points last season at Michigan, averaged 3.4 points and 3 rebounds while working her way into the starting lineup for four of the seven games.
Gray was a four-time all-state first team member while at Lakota West and Winton Woods, winning player of the year in both the Greater Miami Conference and Eastern Cincinnati Conference. She started all 35 games in her freshman season at Oregon, scoring 10.3 points per game. Gray averaged 1.2 points and played in six of seven games in Mexico.
Both of the team's losses came against Brazil, in pool play and the gold medal game. Phelia didn't just bow her head and take the losses, though. She learned important lessons that she will implement this season at Michigan.
"I feel like the biggest thing was they did the little things right," Phelia said.
Merriweather, who was a coach for the national team trials in 2021, learned from her fellow coaches Aaron Johnston and Kamie Ethridge, taking lessons from their coaching styles to apply at Cincinnati. This experience will also help her get her team prepared for a leveled-up Big 12 schedule.
"I think the exposure to elite players makes us come back and be more determined to continue to work hard and to develop the players on our team," Merriweather said.
The United States now has a 4-2 record in the gold medal game. Even with their most recent setback, Phelia reflected on the importance of three team members hailing from the Queen City.
"I feel like it speaks a lot of volume on Cincinnati, Ohio as a whole and just realizing that there's a lot of talent out there," Phelia said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FIBA: Cincinnati stars contribute to AmeriCup success
