California State University Northridge Athletics
Fluker Named to National Team Training Camp
7/10/2017 7:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
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Northridge, CA - Incoming junior Channon Fluker was announced today as one of 40 elite college student-athletes who will attend the 2017 USA Basketball Women's U23 National Team Training Camp in Colorado Springs, CO from July 31-Aug. 4 at the United States Olympic Training Center (USOTC). The USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee issued the invitations.
"I'm very excited and just a little nervous," said Fluker about the opportunity. "It means a lot to me because I didn't think that I would ever get this far. It means that I've been working hard and that it's paying off. Thank you to Coach [Jason] Flowers for helping me get this opportunity."
Fluker joins a group that includes 22 international gold medalists, four NCAA champions, five Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-Americans and 33 all-conference honorees, including herself.Â
"Being invited to participate in a USA Basketball Training Camp is a tremendous honor for any player. Channon has continued to improve in a lot of areas and I'm glad her work is being recognized by those at the highest levels of basketball," said CSUN women's basketball Head Coach Jason Flowers. "We are extremely proud of Channon and expect her to bring what she learns from this experience back to her teammates to make next year's team even better."
Fluker plans to focus on her overall game during the five-day camp.Â
"It's all about mental toughness for me at this point. I'll have to work hard, use everything that Coach Flowers has been teaching me and do my best," she said. "I'm excited for the experience and to be able to further my skills away from the basket. I'm mostly post-oriented, but now I'm able to step away from the basket and do more forward work."
The 12-member team that will represent the USA in an inaugural U23 Four Nations Tournament for college-aged women this summer in Tokyo, Japan, is expected to be announced on Aug. 4 at the conclusion of the camp. Players selected to the team will continue training at the USOTC through Aug. 7 before departing for Tokyo. Athletes eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens who are 23 years old or younger and currently are freshmen, sophomores or juniors in college.
Taking part in training camp will be: Kristine Anigwe (California/Phoenix, AZ); Ariel Atkins(Texas/Duncanville, TX); Monique Billings (UCLA/Corona, CA); Erin Boley (Oregon/Hodgenville, KY); Kalani Brown (Baylor/Slidell, LA); Lexie Brown (Duke/Suwanee, GA); Tyra Buss (Indiana/Mt. Carmel, IL); Jordin Canada (UCLA/Los Angeles, CA); Natalie Chou (Baylor/Plano, TX); Napheesa Collier (Connecticut/O'Fallon, MO); Sophie Cunningham (Missouri/Columbia, MO); Asia Durr (Louisville/ Douglasville, GA); Katelynn Flaherty (Michigan/Point Pleasant, NJ); Channon Fluker (CSUN/Pasadena, CA); Rebecca Greenwell (Duke/Owensboro, KY); Linnae Harper (Ohio State/Chicago, IL); Myisha Hines-Allen (Louisville/Montclair, NJ); Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon/Walnut Creek, CA); Marina Mabrey (Notre Dame/Belmar, NJ); Tynice Martin (West Virginia/Atlanta, GA); Brooke McCarty (Texas/League City, TX); Teaira McCowan (Mississippi State/Brenham, TX); Brittany McPhee (Stanford/Normandy Park, WA); Kelsey Mitchell (Ohio State/Cincinnati, OH); Mariya Moore (Southern California/Hercules, CA); Jamie Nared (Tennessee/Portland, OR); Arike Ogunbowale (Notre Dame/Milwaukee, WI); Teniya Page (Penn State/Chicago, IL); Mercedes Russell (Tennessee/Springfield, OR); Katie Lou Samuelson (Connecticut/Huntington Beach, CA); Jessica Shepard (Notre Dame/ Fremont, NE); Kristen Simon (Southern California/Gardena, CA); Destiny Slocum (Oregon State/ Meridian, ID); Azurá Stevens (Connecticut/Raleigh, NC); Hallie Thome (Michigan/Chagrin Falls, OH); Victoria Vivians (Mississippi State/Carthage, MS); Jatarie White (Texas/Charlotte, NC); Gabby Williams (Connecticut/Sparks, NV); A'ja Wilson (South Carolina/Hopkins, SC); and Jackie Young (Notre Dame/Princeton, IN).
Leading the 2017 USA Basketball Women's U23 National Team will be Jeff Walz of the University of Louisville as head coach, with Courtney Banghart of Princeton University and Michelle Clark-Heard of Western Kentucky University as assistant coaches. Additionally, Geno Auriemma, 2009-16 USA Basketball Women's National Team head coach and head coach at the University of Connecticut, will serve as the lead clinician during training camp, guiding all of the sessions except the team practices and games.
During training camp, athletes will take part in sessions dedicated to skill development and to understanding the culture of success that is an important aspect of playing for the USA Basketball Women's National Team. Additionally, the participants will be divided into four teams that will compete in a round-robin tournament that results in semifinals and gold and bronze medal games.
This past season, Fluker earned 2017 Big West Conference Player of the Year honors after becoming the first player in more than 25 years to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. She won Big West Player of the Week for three-straight weeks during the conference season as well as twice during non-conference competition. In 2016-17 she also set new school records for points, rebounds and field goals in a season and averaged 18.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game to go with 75 blocks and 16 steals.
During her freshman season, Fluker was named the Big West Freshman of the Year and as First Team All-Big West. She was also named the National Mid-Major Freshman of the Year by CollegeSportsMadness.com. She averaged 13.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game while shooting 49.7 percent from the field.
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