Southern Miss' Kendra Reed Named to U.S. Basketball
June 21, 2007 HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss junior guard/forward Kendra Reed (Bay St. Louis, Miss.) has been selected to represent the United States as a member of the U.S. William Jones Cup Team which will compete, July 11-17, in Taipei, Taiwan. Reed will be joined by an all-star collegiate cast comprised of Rachel Allison and Jhasmin Player of Baylor, Heather Ezell of Iowa State, Briann January of Arizona State, Sarah-Jo Lawrence of George Washington, Jackie McFarland of Colorado, Angie Nelp of Colorado State, La Toya Micheaux of Texas A&, Leah Rush of Oklahoma, Brittanie Taylor-James of North Carolina A&T and Katie Vieth of Kentucky. Seven members of the 12-player roster participated in this year's NCAA Tournament. Last season, Reed averaged 15.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. She was a third-team All-Conference USA honoree and named to the first All-Academic Team. Reed led the team in free throw percentage and three-point field goals. She finished the season ranked No. 17 (86.5) in the country in free throw percentage and No. 34 in three-point field goal percentage (38.0). She started in all 30 games. Reed needs only 91 more points to reach 1,000 points in her career. "It's two of my passions, to serve God and play basketball," Reed said. "It's just really exciting that I get to go out the country and play in the Jones Cup. " Led by Texas A& associate women's basketball head coach Vic Schaefer, in association with Athletes In Action, the U.S. will be one of seven countries participating in the single round-robin tournament along with teams representing Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Korea. This is the first year that the women's Jones Cup team will be sponsored by AIA, which is an associate member of USA Basketball. The team will train in College Station from July 1-7, and will depart for Taiwan, July 8. "I am very excited about the young people we have been selected for our team," said Schaefer, who is entering his fifth season at his alma mater Texas A&. "All of them come from great programs with well-coached teams. With their playing experience, they will be well-prepared for the competition we will face at the tournament." Schaefer was recommended for the job by Tracey Tarkington, Director of Athletes In Action USA Basketball. Tarkington, a former Division I women's basketball coach, has known Schaefer for years. She approached him about the opportunity to coach, because of his strong Christian faith and his success as one of the top defensive minds in the coaching profession. The tour to Taiwan is just one of many for Athletes in Action. Between May and August, hundreds of college student-athletes and AIA staff travel the world to play competitive games, run clinics and attend sports camps. Each opportunity is used to share the matchless love of Jesus Christ as well as to teach the athletes how to be lifetime ministers of the gospel. "This is a very unique opportunity that I feel a calling for," Schaefer said. "It is an opportunity of a lifetime to lead a group of young individuals in international competition and be examples and fisher of men for the Lord. Not only will our players experience growth in their game, but growth in their spiritual life. I felt like it was an opportunity I could not turn down." 2007 U.S. WILLIAM JONES CUP TEAM ROSTER Team Director: Shannon Kaney (Athletes In Action)
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