COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – USA Basketball today announced that Villanova University head women's basketball coach Denise Dillon has been selected to be an on-court coach for the U18 national team. The trials are scheduled to be held from May 31 through June 4 in Colorado Springs at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center.
 
Texas A&M head coach Joni Taylor will be the head coach of the U18 squad with DeLisha Milton-Jones of Old Dominion and Teri Moren from Indiana serving as assistants. Dillon and Amaka Agugus-Hamilton from Virginia will aid the coaching staff in on-court skills and drills and scrimmages during the trials.
 
A now-biennial event launched in 1988 and open to athletes 18 years old or younger, the FIBA Americas U18 Championship features eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. The USA Basketball women claimed 10-straight gold medals from 2000-2018, as well as in 1988, and silver medals in 1992 and 1996. USA Basketball is 59-2 in FIBA Americas U18 Championship action.
 
Dillon led Villanova this past season to a 24-9 overall record and a 15-4 league mark which was good enough for a second place finish in the final league standings. For her efforts in 2021-22, she was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year. This is the fifth time that Dillon has been named a conference coach of the year. During her Drexel career, she was a four-time CAA Coach of the Year. It also marks the seventh, 20-win season as a collegiate head coach for Dillon who had six, 20-win campaigns during her 17-year Drexel career. In her two years at the helm of the Villanova program, she has led the Wildcats to a 41-16 record. Her 19-year overall coaching record currently stands at 370-227.

 

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