Meadors to Serve on USA Basketball Staff

MEADORS TO SERVE ON USA BASKETBALL STAFF

ATLANTA, April 20, 2011 Atlanta Dream Head Coach Marynell Meadors will serve as one of four court coaches during USA Basketball Womens National Team training camp. The team will train for three days, May 10-12, in Las Vegas.

"I'm really looking forward to working with Geno, Doug and Jen again," said Meadors, who helped the Dream to the WNBA Finals last season. "I really thought that last year in the Czech Republic for the World Championship, the staff had so much chemistry and worked together so well, and I thought it carried over to the team. They worked together so well, too. Hopefully we can keep all that going and keep winning, that's the key."

Meadors has been a member of four USA Basketball team staffs. In addition to her stint as an assistant to the 2010 USA World Championship Team that captured gold with an unblemished mark, Meadors served as the head coach for the 1989 U.S. Olympic Festival East Team that captured a gold medal. She then was the assistant coach for the gold medal winning 1992 USA R. William Jones Cup Team and returned in 1993 as the head coach for the USA Jones Cup squad that returned home with the bronze medal.

In three seasons as head coach and general manager of the Dream, Meadors has twice led the team to the playoffs, including a WNBA Finals appearance in 2010. In 2009, she earned WNBA Coach of the Year honors after orchestrating the second-best turnaround in league history.

Meadors is joined by Doug Bruno (DePaul University), Corey Gaines (Phoenix Mercury) and Jennifer Gillom (Los Angeles Sparks). The four will work with 2009-12 USA National Team head coach Geno Auriemma (University of Connecticut) and the participating USA National Team members during the three-day camp. Athletes participating in the training camp will be announced at a later date.

Bruno, Gillom and Meadors most recently served as assistant coaches to Auriemma and the 2010 USA World Championship Team as it rolled to a perfect 9-0 record and the gold medal, which earned the U.S. its 2012 Olympic berth.

The 2009-12 USA Basketball Women's National Team is currently comprised of 24 athletes, including Atlanta Dream guard Lindsey Harding and forward Angel McCoughtry.

The Atlanta Dream is the defending Womens National Basketball Associations (WNBA) Eastern Conference Champion. The team tips off the 2011 season at home on June 5 against the New York Liberty at Philips Arena. The Dream enters its fourth season this summer as part of the WNBA, the worlds longest-running womens professional sports league. For ticket information, visit AtlantaDream.net or call (877) 977-7729.