Aug. 4, 2017
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – After a full week of camp at the United States Olympic Training Center, the field of 36 collegiate athletes was cut to the final 12 for the 2017 USA Basketball Women’s U23 National Team on Friday afternoon. Of those 12, Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale made the list, continuing the tradition of the Fighting Irish being well represented on the international scene.
“So proud of Arike,” Karen and Kevin Keyes Head Women’s Basketball Coach Muffet McGraw said. “She played well this summer and has worked really hard on her game. I’m glad she will get a chance to represent Notre Dame.”
The Irish have now produced 21 selections for both Team USA and Canada, resulting in 32 medals, including 18 golds. Ogunbowale hopes to add to that legacy next week, when she travels across the globe to Tokyo, Japan for the Four Nations Tournament.
The event will include Team USA battling Australia August 12, Canada on August 13 and finally Japan on August 15 in a round robin tournament at the Katayanagi Arena.
Ogunbowale boasts the most gold medals on the U23 team with four, earning top finishes at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games (3×3), the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship, the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and the 2013 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Championship. Ogunbowale also earned a silver medal at the FIBA 3×3 U18 World Championship in 2015.
Last season, Ogunbowale was a Naismith Trophy Top-30 finalist and the NCAA Lexington Regional MVP, while ranking 13th in the ACC in field goal percentage (.449) and fifth in total points (588).
The full list of U23 team members includes: Ariel Atkins (Texas/Duncanville, Texas); Monique Billings (UCLA/Corona, Calif.); Kalani Brown (Baylor/Slidell, La.); Jordin Canada (UCLA/Los Angeles, Calif.); Asia Durr (Louisville/ Douglasville, Ga.); Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon/Walnut Creek, Calif.); Brittany McPhee (Stanford/Normandy Park, Wash.); Kelsey Mitchell (Ohio State/Cincinnati, Ohio); Jamie Nared (Tennessee/Portland, Ore.); Arike Ogunbowale (Notre Dame/Milwaukee, Wis.); Mercedes Russell (Tennessee/Springfield, Ore.); and A’ja Wilson (South Carolina/Hopkins, S.C.).
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Josh Bates joined Fighting Irish Media as associate athletics communications director in July of 2017, serving as the women’s basketball and men’s golf contact. Bates earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degree in sports management from the University of Illinois in 2011 and 2014. He also worked as a grad assistant at Illinois from 2012-14 and worked full-time at Tulane University from 2014-17.