Diamond Miller Prepares To Join U19 USA National Women’s Basketball Team

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Former Lady Warrior Diamond Miller will have another chance to show her stuff on the world stage while representing the United States this summer when she joins the U19 USA National Women’s Basketball Team.

Miller, who did not make the team during tryouts in May, was nonetheless asked to join it on June 26, after one of the players left the team.

“This is a really big opportunity for me because I didn’t originally make the team, I was an alternate,” Miller said. “It’s just a second opportunity for me to show my skills and that I belong.”

“It’s pretty exciting,” she said.

Miller said she didn’t immediately make a decision when she was asked to join the team.

“I just had to process everything because of college and everything and what was best for me and my future,” said Miller, who will attend and play for the University of Maryland come the fall. “I felt like accepting the request to go on the team again would be the best option for me, even though I would be missing some of the summer practices for college.”

“I spent some time to think about it,” she said. “I just had to weigh my options, the pros and cons, but I feel that if USA calls, you have to go.”

Miller said her coaches at Maryland support her decision, as does her family.

“Everybody is supporting me through this process, and I’m just so grateful to have the coaching staff and my family who is accepting this decision, knowing that this decision is not an easy one for me to make, but understanding that I’m thinking ahead,” she said.

Miller will be flying out to Colorado in early July for practices. The team then travels to Tokyo, Japan on July 11 for more practices and scrimmages.

On July 16, the team travels to Bangkok, Thailand, for more scrimmages and the FIBA World Cup tournament.

On July 17, the team will scrimmage against Argentina and Germany on July 18.

Tournament play begins on July 20, when the US team goes against Australia. On July 21, the opponent is Korea and Hungary on July 23.

The quarterfinals will be on July 26, the semifinals on July 27 and finals on July 28.

This is the second time Miller — the all-time leading scorer in the Franklin High School basketball program — will represent the United States on a world stage; Miller was part of the gold medal U16 US National Team in 2016.

That team went undefeated in the tournament, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, crushing Canada in the gold medal game 91-46.

Miller scored 10 points and had four rebounds and two steals in that game, her best performance in the tournament, including a three-pointer at the 1st Quarter’s buzzer.

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