Griffith Selected to USA Basketball Developmental Committee

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Dartmouth women's basketball assistant coach and two-time Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith has been selected to the USA Basketball women's developmental committee for the 2013-16 quadrennium.

"I am honored and blessed to have been selected for this prestigious committee within USA Basketball," said Griffith. "I look forward to helping to select the coaches and players that will be the future of USA Basketball, an organization that has been instrumental in my career as a basketball player"

The Women's Developmental National Team committees will select coaches and athletes for USA Basketball teams competing in the 2013 and 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championships and the 2014 and 2016 FIBA U17 World Championships.

The USA Basketball Women's Development National Team Committee is chaired by Carol Callan (Women's National Team Director, USA Basketball) in a non-voting position and includes NFHS appointees Jody Patrick (The Flint Hills School, Va.) and Jill Rankin Schneider (Monterey H.S., Texas.); AAU appointees Bill Larson (North Tartan Basketball AAU, Min.) and Sherri Pegues (GBL Cal Sparks AAU, Calif.); and athlete representative Yolanda Griffith, a 2000 and 2004 Olympic gold medalist who has played on five USA Basketball teams.

Griffith played professionally for 16 years on three continents and for five different leagues. Not only did she compete in the WNBA, but also the Euroleague, the American Basketball League (ABL), the Women's Chinese Basketball League (WCBL) and the Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL). In both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, Griffith earned a gold medal as a member of Team USA.

The Sacramento Monarchs took Griffith with the second overall pick in the 1999 draft. She immediately made an impact, averaging 18.8 points per game, earning the league's Most Valuable Player Award, the Newcomer of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year. Despite winning the MVP in 1999, her most rewarding season came in 2005 as Griffith led the Monarchs to the WNBA Championship and was named the Finals MVP.

In her WNBA career, Griffith was named an All-Star seven times and made the All-WNBA team five times, including first-team honors in 1999 and 2005. She is the league's all-time leader in offensive rebounds with 1,049, and is the only player with over 1,000 offensive rebounds. With 2,444 total rebounds, Griffith ranks fourth on the league's all-time list, plus is eighth in career steals with 529 and ninth in career blocks with 323. Considered one of the best players to ever play the game, Griffith was named to the WNBA's 10th Anniversary All-Decade Team, comprised of the 10 best and most influential players from the league's inaugural decade.

Her professional career began in the Euroleague in 1993 with the DJK Wildcats in Aschaffenburg, Germany. In 1997, Griffith led the league in scoring and rebounding, a feat that was not duplicated until 2007. She played for Lavezzini Basket Parma in Italy from 2000-02, and her team won the Rochetti Cup and was the Italian League Champion in 2002. Griffith finished her Euroleague career with UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia from 2003-06, winning the league championship in her first year there.

Griffith also competed in the ABL for the Chicago Condors and the Long Beach Stingrays from 1997-98. She was an all-star starter in 1997 and the defensive player of the year in 1998. In 2007, she played in the WKBL for the KB Savers and was named an all-star. The following season, she played for the Henan Elephants in the WCBA and was an all-star and the league leader in rebounding.

About USA Basketball
Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for men's and women's basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection; training and fielding of USA teams that compete in FIBA sponsored international basketball competitions, as well as for some national competitions.

USA teams are the current men's and women's champions in the Olympics, men's and women's FIBA World Championships; women's FIBA U19 World Champions; men's and women's FIBA U17 World Champions; and the men's and women's U18 and U16 FIBA Americas champions; as well as winners of the women's FIBA 3X3 World Championship and 3x3 U18 World Championship.

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