Dishin & Swishin 10/23/14 Video & Podcast: Geno Auriemma on USA Basketball & coming back to UConn, Carol Callan on all things USA Basketball

We have a great podcast for you today, with special guest Carol Callan, women’s national team director for USA Basketball. First, we want you to watch the video above. Captured on the first day of practice at Connecticut, it features Geno Auriemma, the head coach of the Huskies and the USA senior national team. He talks about the difficulty in assembling a national team, the lack of practice time, being the “bad guy” to people who do not want so many UConn players and the challenges of returning to coach the Huskies.

The first thing Auriemma responds to, however, is Dishin & Swishin host David Siegel telling him that Carol Callan would be the guest on this week’s podcast. His reaction and response summarizes how important our podcast guest is to the USA Basketball women’s program.

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Callan began her time in USA Basketball as a volunteer committee member and now is in the top spot for the women’s program. She also serves on several committees, including the national team steering committee (chair), the national team player selection committee and the developmental national team committee (non–voting chair). She serves on the FIBA and FIBA Americas Women’s Commissions, the WBCA Board of Directors and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Directors.

USA Basketball had a phenomenal summer and fall in 2014, winning gold medals not only in the FIBA World Championships for Women, but also in the U-18 FIBA Americas tournament, the Youth Olympic Games and the FIBA 3×3 World Championships.

Callan is the right person to talk to, if you have questions about USA Basketball. Topics covered on this week’s podcast include:

• The difficulty in balancing youth and experience in selecting a roster and planning for the future
• Challenges with the schedules of players and coaches, including training camp scheduling and roster choices
• Th two-term selection of Auriemma as head coach
• The role and importance of USA Basketball experience in inviting players to camp and to tryouts, plus ways to incorporate new players in the process
• Is including a top-level college player now a standard or goal of the selection committee
• The growth of 3×3 basketball and why USA Basketball considers it important to player growth and development

It is a very informative, interesting conversation with a woman not afraid to answer the questions that accompany her position and role in USA Basketball.

Enjoy the podcast!