PORTLAND (USA) - A glut of FIBA rising stars are ready to light it up against USA at the 2025 Nike Hoop Summit after being selected to step out with the World Select Team.
The roster for the showpiece event is dripping with talented ballers who have already shown their quality and potential on the international FIBA stage, as well as through their attendance at prestigious Basketball Without Borders camps.
Many of those ready to compete in Portland showed out at the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2024 in Mexico.
This includes French ace Ainhoa Risacher who made the All-Star Five and was also MVP of the FIBA U16 Women's EuroBasket 2023. Also playing with LDLC ASVEL Feminin, she hails from a basketball family, with her brother Zaccharie Risacher being the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
She is joined on the roster by compatriot Sarah Cisse - a powerful frontcourt operator who was a major force behind France making the Semi-Finals in Leon last year.
Canada made history as they booked their first-ever U17 WWC Final spot and it was largely down to the brilliance of Agot Akol Makeer who racked up almost 18 points per game and also shone on the defensive end too. That witnessed her deservedly making the All-Star Five.
Teammate Deniya Prawl was also outstanding for her country in the tournament and she will appear alongside a third Canadian baller in the shape of Nyadieng Yiech. She stepped out at the FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup 2024 and attended the Basketball Without Borders Americas Camp a year earlier.
All eyes will be on Olivia Vukosa, who was a record-breaker and colossus at the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup. The Croatian standout became the first player in tournament history to hit the 50 landmark for performance efficiency valuation in a game.
Both Saffron Shiels and Lara Somfai will fly the flag for Aussie hoops, with the former having played at the U17 Worlds back in 2022, as well as the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2023 - a testament to her maturity.. Sheils also made the All-Star Five at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup Women 2024 and the Basketball Without Borders Global camp last year.
Somfai is also a really exciting prospect and potential future Opals' star. She scored more than 14 points per outing in Mexico at U17 and lined up alongside Somfai in the All-Star Five for FIBA U18 Asia Cup Women.
Jovana Popovic of Serbia is a guard with a big future and she showed this with her All-Star Five berth at the FIBA U18 Women's EuroBasket 2024 - as well as being Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp 2024 MVP.
Elsewhere on the World Select roster, Daria Biriuk of Ukraine has put up big numbers for her country in previous competitions, Ayla McDowell was super for Brazil in the FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup 2024, while Mexican and LSU commit Bella Hines rounds out the list. Scheduled to take place in Portland, Oregon on April 12 at the Moda Center, this will be the 26th edition of the event, with the women's showpiece having been introduced in 2023.
FIBA