Schaefer Selected to U.S. Pan American Games Coaching Staff
March 13, 2019 | Women's Basketball
by Brian Ogden, Assistant Coordinator/Communications
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State women's basketball head coach Vic Schaefer has been selected as an assistant coach for the 2019 United States Pan American Games women's basketball team this summer.
Schaefer is one of three collegiate head coaches chosen by USA Basketball to lead the team. Suzy Merchant (Michigan State) will serve as head coach, and Felisha Legette-Jack (Buffalo) will be the other assistant.
The USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee, chaired by George Washington head coach Jennifer Rizzotti, is responsible for selecting the coaching staff, which is approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors and pending approval by the United States Olympic Committee.
"I am very honored and humbled to have the opportunity to represent the United States of America, across the world in competition," Schaefer said. "Being the son of a full colonel in the United States Army, I have a tremendous appreciation for the red, white and blue along with this great country. To have the opportunity to be a coach on a team representing this country is the ultimate, for me, as a coach and a competitor. I am honored to be on a staff with coach Merchant and coach Legette-Jack, as I have had the honor of competing against them in my career. I have the utmost respect for both of them."
Trials to select the 12-member team will be held May 16-20 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Training camp will follow July 15-30, with the competition taking place July 31-Aug. 4 in Lima, Peru.
Athletes eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens who currently are enrolled as a full-time collegiate student with remaining eligibility for the 2019-2020 school year.
Schaefer is the SEC Coach of the Year, and is just the sixth coach to be honored by the league's coaches three times in his career. He is in the midst of his third consecutive 30-win season and has led MSU to consecutive SEC regular-season championships and their first SEC Tournament championship this year.
His teams have posted an impressive 101-9 record and been to two straight National Championship games since 2016-17. Schaefer is the reigning Naismith Coach of the Year and was named a semifinalist for the award again on Monday.
The Pan American Games are held every four years (2019, 2023, etc.) in the year preceding the Olympics. Including host Peru and the United States, teams competing in the five-on-five basketball tournament (there also is a 3x3 Pan Am Games tournament) are: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Paraguay, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Overall, the American women have earned seven gold medals, five silver medals and two bronze medals and have compiled a record of 78-15. In the most recent edition, the 2015 U.S. Pan American Games Team finished with a 4-1 record to return from Toronto, Canada, with the silver medal.
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State women's basketball head coach Vic Schaefer has been selected as an assistant coach for the 2019 United States Pan American Games women's basketball team this summer.
Schaefer is one of three collegiate head coaches chosen by USA Basketball to lead the team. Suzy Merchant (Michigan State) will serve as head coach, and Felisha Legette-Jack (Buffalo) will be the other assistant.
The USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee, chaired by George Washington head coach Jennifer Rizzotti, is responsible for selecting the coaching staff, which is approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors and pending approval by the United States Olympic Committee.
"I am very honored and humbled to have the opportunity to represent the United States of America, across the world in competition," Schaefer said. "Being the son of a full colonel in the United States Army, I have a tremendous appreciation for the red, white and blue along with this great country. To have the opportunity to be a coach on a team representing this country is the ultimate, for me, as a coach and a competitor. I am honored to be on a staff with coach Merchant and coach Legette-Jack, as I have had the honor of competing against them in my career. I have the utmost respect for both of them."
Trials to select the 12-member team will be held May 16-20 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Training camp will follow July 15-30, with the competition taking place July 31-Aug. 4 in Lima, Peru.
Athletes eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens who currently are enrolled as a full-time collegiate student with remaining eligibility for the 2019-2020 school year.
Schaefer is the SEC Coach of the Year, and is just the sixth coach to be honored by the league's coaches three times in his career. He is in the midst of his third consecutive 30-win season and has led MSU to consecutive SEC regular-season championships and their first SEC Tournament championship this year.
His teams have posted an impressive 101-9 record and been to two straight National Championship games since 2016-17. Schaefer is the reigning Naismith Coach of the Year and was named a semifinalist for the award again on Monday.
The Pan American Games are held every four years (2019, 2023, etc.) in the year preceding the Olympics. Including host Peru and the United States, teams competing in the five-on-five basketball tournament (there also is a 3x3 Pan Am Games tournament) are: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Paraguay, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Overall, the American women have earned seven gold medals, five silver medals and two bronze medals and have compiled a record of 78-15. In the most recent edition, the 2015 U.S. Pan American Games Team finished with a 4-1 record to return from Toronto, Canada, with the silver medal.
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