MORGANTOWN — Kaitlyn Ammons merely hoped to land a spot with the Philly Belles 16U Nike travel team.
Then, one of the coaches at her workout happened to be on the selection committee for the Team USA U16 squad. He advised Ammons’ parents she should apply.
Ammons not only made the Philly Belles, the sophomore at Morgantown High also became one of 115 applicants to earn a tryout with Team USA. She’s headed to Colorado Springs, Colo., later this month.
“It felt like a good opportunity to see who I’m up against in my class and to figure out what I need to work on to be able to compete against the best of the best,” Ammons said. “I want to go into the tryout sessions and give everything I have in me. I can’t wait to find out how I go up against the other players there , and especially how I respond to the level of coaching I’ll be receiving.”
Ammons, a 6-foot-3 forward, averaged 12.6 points per game last season, shooting at a 52% clip. She averaged five rebounds and blocked 34 shots.
She started as a freshman and has worked her way into becoming one of West Virginia’s top post players early in her high school career.
She earned second-team all-state honors as a sophomore.
Ammons began garnering interest from Division I schools as a ninth-grader. The first offer came from Youngstown State in May 2018, and offers from Radford, Duquesne, Campbell, Robert Morris and Marshall have ensued.
“Honestly, I never expected to get my first offer from a college when I did,” Ammons said. “I never knew it would get this serious — I just knew I wanted to experience things not every other person gets to experience. I want to be able to play at the highest level I possibly can and make all the people around me proud.”
After tryouts for Team USA, the roster will finalized by the beginning of June. Only 12 are selected from the 115 participants, but the top 35 are eligible to tryout again next year, if they still meet the age requirement.
The team is slated to compete at the FIBA World Championships in Argentina.
“It feels exciting as you come closer to the date that it is, but at first I was like, ‘I have to work so hard, like harder than I ever have before and I have to prepare to go give my best,’” Ammons said. “It’s very motivating to me.”
