Delaware native Delle Donne named to U.S. Olympic team

Upon her long list of basketball accomplishments, Elena Delle Donne can now add the greatest honor available.

She is an Olympian.

Delle Donne, the Ursuline Academy and University of Delaware graduate, was named to the United States team Wednesday for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Olympics run from Aug. 5-21. The U.S begins group play Aug. 6 or 7 against Senegal.

“It’s so hard to even put it into words,” Delle Donne told USA Basketball. “When Carol [Callan, from USA Basketball] told me, it was emotional. Just to think this entire basketball journey I’ve been on has been absolutely incredible, but this has been by far the pinnacle of my career and the best news I’ve ever heard.

“It’s absolutely a dream come true. I’ve just been soaking it up today and it’s amazing and a humbling experience as well, with how special and talented this pool of players is.”

The 6-foot-5 Delle Donne, 26, is about to begin her fourth season with the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, which is playing a preseason game Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Carpenter Center against the New York Liberty. She was WNBA Most Valuable Player last year after scoring a league-best 23.4 points per game.

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While Delle Donne’s talent and versatility long made her likely to earn a spot on the 12-player roster, competition was stiff and experienced players were plentiful. Injuries prevented Delle Donne from playing for the U.S. team that won the 2014 FIBA world championship. Delle Donne, Brittney Griner, who also entered the WNBA in 2013, when Delle Donne was league rookie of the year, and Connecticut senior Breanna Stewart are the only players on the team without previous Olympic experience.

“Elena Delle Donne is obviously one of the most talented players in the world,” U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said Wednesday. “We’re not quite sure right now exactly how that translates into international competition because Elena hasn’t had a lot of that, though she had some in Spain in October. But the fact that she can play multiple positions – same with Breanna Stewart -- you can put her multiple places on the floor and be productive.”

The rest of the team is made up of three-time gold medalists Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi, two-time gold medalists Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles and 2012 gold medalists Tina Charles, Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen.

Among those not making the team were two-time gold medalist Candace Parker, a two-time WNBA MVP.

At the Olympics, the U.S. has won five straight gold medals, 41 consecutive games – 23 under Auriemma -- and owns a 58-3 all-time record with seven golds, one silver (1976, the first year of women’s basketball competition) and one bronze (1992). The U.S. boycotted the 1980 Games.

“She can help this team in numerous ways and I’m looking forward to coaching her,” Auriemma said of Delle Donne’s inside-outside versatility.

The irony that Delle Donne will now play for Auriemma will certainly capture NBC-TV’s attention, and that of other media, in August.

She signed with UConn after being consensus national player of the year as an Ursuline senior in 2008. At Ursuline, Delle Donne was a five-time first-team All-State player and won four state titles.

Elena Delle Donne eyes Olympic stage

But Delle Donne left UConn after less than 48 hours on campus that June, initially citing basketball burnout. Delle Donne subsequently enrolled at Delaware, where she played volleyball as a freshman. She ultimately determined the real cause of her sudden departure was feeling detached from her Wilmington area family, particularly older sister Lizzie, who is blind, deaf, autistic and has cerebral palsy.

“Yeah, it’s crazy to think that there was a time that I put the basketball down and thought I would never play again,” Delle Donne told USA Basketball. “And now to get here, it’s unbelievable. I wouldn’t trade any part of that journey. I feel like it really makes this moment that much even more special.’’

Delle Donne returned to basketball with the Blue Hens in 2009-10. During her four seasons, she scored 3,039 career points, fifth in NCAA Division I history, despite missing 22 UD games because of illness or injuries.

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Delaware cracked the national Top 25 her last two seasons while going 42-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association and 63-6 overall, including losing just four games with Delle Donne on the court. Her 28.1 points per game led the nation as a junior and she was second as a senior with 26.0 ppg. Delaware won its first NCAA Tournament game in school history in 2012 and secured a berth in the NCAA tourney’s Sweet 16 in 2013 after a second-round upset win over North Carolina.

“Everybody knew with Elena coming out of high school what her talent was and the ability that she had on the basketball court,” Auriemma said. “It was just a matter of getting her mind right and getting herself going in the right direction and I think that certainly happened when she was at Delaware and has continued to happen in the WNBA. There’s never been any denying what she could do. I don’t think anyone’s surprised by her success in the WNBA.

“But as I talked to her about this a couple years ago in Las Vegas at one of our training camps, this is a great opportunity for her. Now’s the time for her to take it, and not just in college and not just in the United States, but to have some similar success on the world stage. That’s what all the great players have done that have played in America. They’ve been able to transfer their success in the States to worldwide success. I’m anxious to see that.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.