Aari McDonald was a few weeks removed from leading the Arizona Wildcats to a WNIT championship when she got the news.
Someone in the womenβs basketball offices at McKale Center handed her an envelope. Inside was an invitation to try out for USA Basketball in mid-May. The players selected would represent the United States in the Pan American Games.
The understated McDonaldβs reaction: βOh, that is nice.β
She was excited to train with top players in Colorado Springs.
βTo be one of the 35 (players) invited is a tremendous honor,β said UA coach Adia Barnes. βI think itβs extremely hard. Itβs extremely competitive. You never know what people are looking for. You have to fit a specific need.β
McDonald didnβt make the team, but nonetheless played well.
βShe was one of the best guards there,β Barnes said. βI think her experience at Team USA is going to make her better. I believe everything happens for a reason. When we came back, I gave her the rest of the week off, and she was back at it. Sheβs going to be even more motivated. Itβs a blessing in disguise for her.β
McDonald is coming off one of the most dominant seasons in recent history. She averaged 24.1 points per game, the third-highest average in the country; claimed the Arizona single-season scoring record (menβs and womenβs) with 890 points; and became one of just two players nationally since 2000 to score 800 points, grab 200 rebounds and dish 150 assists in the same season.
May marked her second time trying out for Team USA β she was one of the last players cut two years ago. McDonald had a sense of what was ahead of her this time out. Players arrived in their hotel rooms to find a Team USA backpack waiting for them. Inside was a T-shirt, a jersey, shorts and a water bottle.
Then came scrimmages, drills and some inspiration.
Minnesota coach Lindsay Whalen, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner, spoke to the players. Her message: Itβs not about you. Itβs about the team.
βJust represent your school or yourself the best way you can,β McDonald said, recalling the talk. βAt the time, she was saying your country, because USA. But that stood out to me. Do what you do best β donβt try to be extra or be something you are not. Just stick to your strengths.β
Players were broken into four teams for pool play, with seven to nine players on each team. McDonald was teamed with Stanfordβs Kiana Williams, Oregon Stateβs Mikayla Pivec, Kansas Stateβs Peyton Williams, Texasβ Joyner Holmes and Marylandβs Taylor Mikesell.
South Dakota Stateβs Aaron Johnston coached.
βHe was cool; he let us play,β said McDonald. βOther teams had lot of plays. We had simple plays. We got to play and show our strengths.
βWe had a pretty good team β even our coach said we played together. You could see that. Everyone was picking each other up. If someone did something good we were encouraging them and telling them to keep going. It was really fun playing with those group of girls.β
Barnes traveled to Colorado to watch McDonald play.
βSeeing Coach Adia sit on the side and watching me was calming,β said McDonald. βShe would ask, βHow are you feeling?β Or if I had a bad shot, she knows the right words to say to pick me up. Just having her there was good. It shows how much she supports her players.β
McDonaldβs teammates were excited for her opportunity, too. And when she didnβt make Team USA, they had her back. They told McDonald exactly what she needed to hear: that sheβs great and they know what she can do.
McDonald is back to being focused on whatβs next for the Wildcats.
βItβs a little frustrating (not making Team USA). But honestly I just took pluses from the past experiences Iβve had. Me not making the team added fuel to the fire for next year,β she said. βAny of my opponents next year β conference or nonconference β will definitely feel my wrath.
βItβs back to the drawing board. Back to grinding. Work on all the things I need to work on for next season. Itβs motivation.β
Rim shots
- βMore than 80 girls attended Barnesβ camps this week. One of the coaches this week is former UA player Destiny Graham. She stayed in Tucson while applying for graduate assistant jobs over the country. Graham was scheduled to attend the βSo You Want To Be A Coachβ program at this yearβs NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats were still playing in the WNIT, however, and so she missed it.
βIt was unfortunate because I could have networked, and my path to finding a graduate assistant job would have been a little bit easier,β she said.
- βBarnes gave her players two weeks off following the WNIT and another four weeks off this summer.
βI believe itβs big to have a mental and physical break. Even if you take a week off and shut your brain off basketball, itβs healthy,β Barnes said. βThey have stuff they are supposed to be doing via their cell phone. They have an app they can log in for strength and conditioning and for weights, so they can track it that way. I think most of them will get in the gym, but they need a break first.
βWe played a really long season, but if weβre talking about the next step in this program is to make the NCAAs and get better, thereβs a different sense of work, and you get better in the offseason. We talked a lot about that.β
Lucia Alonso is staying in Tucson while the rest of her teammates head home.
- βMost of the Wildcatsβ incoming freshmen wonβt arrive in Tucson until the end of the summer as they are playing for their countriesβ national teams.
βSo the difference is, where we usually get ahead in the summer, we wonβt be this summer,β said Barnes. βOur players will continue to get better and stronger here. But the new players wonβt learn our system in the summer. So that is going to put us behind a little bit. But thatβs the good reality of what we have. The positive part is that they are all playing for national teams β playing high-level competition, getting better.β
- βArizonaβs WNIT championship trophy is now housed on a table inside Barnesβ office β along with a smaller, transparent replica.