NEW YORK — The four members of the Lynx who were on the 2016 Olympic women's basketball gold medalists are among the 29 players in the pool for the 2018 U.S. national team.
Sylvia Fowles, Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen were on the gold medal-winning side. WNBA stars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are back for another run with the national team.
The only player missing from the Olympic team is Tamika Catchings, who retired after the 2016 WNBA season.
The Lynx players also won their fourth WNBA title in October.
"Our strength has always been our best players play over and over. Our veteran players want to play," U.S. national team director Carol Callan said. "They appreciate representing our country and being part of the USA Basketball culture. We've selected athletes that are a mix of young with the older players. We cover each position well."
The U.S. already has qualified for next year's FIBA World Cup, which will be held in Spain.
There are five college players in the pool: UConn's Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson, South Carolina's A'ja Wilson, Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell and Louisville's Asia Durr. Most, if not all, of them won't participate in a training camp that will be held in South Carolina from Feb. 9-11. U.S. national team coach Dawn Staley said that Wilson, if her class schedule permits, will be around for the training camp.
"If she doesn't have class, I want her to sit front and center to see how the Olympians, two-, three-, four-time Olympians operate and approach things," Staley said. "I want the entire team to witness what it's like to see our country's best athletes come together and practice and gear up to play."
