Goestenkors, Stringer To Serve As 2004 Olympic Assistants
Published on March 11, 2004 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Houston Comets News Release
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 11, 2004) - A pair of respected and successful collegiate head coaches, Gail Goestenkors of Duke University (N.C.) and C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, have been selected to serve as assistant coaches to Van Chancellor (Houston Comets) and the 2004 U.S. Women's Olympic Team. The selections, made by the USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee and subject to approval by the U.S. Olympic Committee, complete the 2004 USA coaching staff as WNBA Seattle Storm head coach and three-time Olympian Anne Donovan was previously named an assistant coach for the U.S. squad.
The XXVIII Olympic Games women's basketball competition will feature national teams from 12 nations competing in Athens, Greece, Aug. 14-28, 2004.
"This is a tremendous honor," said six-time Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year Goestenkors, who returns to USA Basketball after serving as an assistant coach on the gold medal winning 2002 USA World Championship Team. "To not only be working with the greatest coaches in the world, but the greatest players in the world, I consider that a supreme honor. I'm very proud to be able to help the USA bring back a gold medal in any way I possibly can."
"I am deeply honored to be asked to assist with our Olympic Team," said Stringer, who returns for her sixth USA Basketball coaching assignment. "The greatest tribute and privilege one can have as a player or as a coach is to represent their country at the Olympic Games. Over the years, I have had many opportunities to coach our U.S. teams all over the world. But, none can be as great and none can be more gratifying than coaching the Olympic Team. I am truly honored to assist coach Van Chancellor and to work with Anne Donovan and Gail Goestenkors. I know that I will learn so much from them, and hopefully I will be able to contribute to such a great staff."
"First of all, it is really great to have Gail back," said Chancellor. "She was such a tremendous asset to our team winning the 2002 World Championship in China. She's a great scout and fit in perfectly. And I'm pleased that we're adding Vivian Stringer, a person with tremendous credentials and outstanding experience. I am really very pleased with our staff right now."
"The Committee is very excited about having Gail Goestenkors and C. Vivian Stringer join Van and Anne on the 2004 staff," said USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team Committee chair Renee' Brown, WNBA Vice President for Player Personnel. "Both coaches bring a lot of experience and success at the highest level. Collegiately, they have both been to the Final Four and both have extensive international basketball experience with USA Basketball. Gail and Vivian have worked with numerous All-Americans and other high-caliber athletes. They know what it takes to win and are invaluable additions to the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team coaching staff."
The nine previously announced core group members of the eventual 12-member 2004 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team include Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Shannon Johnson (San Antonio Silver Stars), Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks), DeLisha Milton-Jones (Los Angeles Sparks), Katie Smith (Minnesota Lynx), Dawn Staley (Charlotte Sting), Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets) and Tina Thompson (Houston Comets). The final three players will be named at a later date.
The 2004 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team is preparing for the 2004 Athens Olympics with three separate spring training sessions. The first was held Feb. 19-27, and the final two will be conducted March 18-28 and April 2-13. Each training camp will feature available core group members as well as other selected players who will compete for one of the USA Senior National Team's final three roster positions. Following the April training, the U.S. team members, along with Goestenkors and Stringer, will break for the WNBA season and reconvene on Aug. 3 to complete their pre-Olympic training at sites to be announced.
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from March 11, 2004
- 2004 WNBA Draft Scheduled For April 17 - WNBA
- Goestenkors, Stringer To Serve As 2004 Olympic Assistants - Houston Comets
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
