Excitement Right Around the Corner for Rizzotti

I've been asked many times throughout the last few weeks if I'm ready to go to Colorado Springs for the USA Basketball U18 team trials and FIBA Americas U18 Championship. Although May and June is supposed to be our ‘down time’ I seem to keep finding new things that I have to get done before I go. I am fortunate, however, to have a great staff I can leave all my Hartford responsibilities to while I'm gone for the next three weeks. So ... now that it's right around the corner ... YES, I'm excited to head out to Colorado!

It's a unique experience to work with 25 of the very best high school seniors all at one time. These kids will be future college All-Americans, WNBA players and possible Olympians and I will hopefully have a positive impact on building a foundation for their careers. These players have always been the best of the best and we will be asking them to check their egos at the door and try and understand the significance of what it means to represent the United States of America in the sport of basketball.

I'm really looking forward to working with and learning from my staff, Sue Semrau (Florida State) and Joi Williams (Central Florida). We will all bring our own experiences and philosophies to the Olympic Training Center. Together, we will work hard to find the right approach and style that will help the remaining 12 players, that make the team, reach their potential by the end of the three weeks.

We will ask them to work hard, learn quickly, be unselfish yet play with their own sense of style. It will be our job to mesh all of them together in order to put the best team on the floor and accomplish our goal of winning a gold medal.

So, to all of those who've asked, the answer is yes, I can't wait to get started!