Japan to host U-23 Four Nations Tournament in August

FIBA.com photo

Japan will be hosting an under-23 four nations women's basketball tournament from August 12 to 15 in Tokyo, according to the USA Basketball website which recently announced the coaches for their under-23 team.

Per the USAB website:

"USA Basketball will take part in an inaugural U23 Four Nations Tournament for college-aged women this summer in Japan, and selected to lead the 2017 USA Basketball Women’s U23 National Team were Jeff Walz of the University of Louisville as head coach, with Courtney Banghart of Princeton University and Michelle Clark-Heard of Western Kentucky University as assistant coaches. The USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee is responsible for selecting the coaching staff, which was approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors."

The Four Nations Tournament will include the United States, Australia, Canada, and the host country.

The USAB website also added grounds for eligibility in the tournament (at least for their national team).

"Athletes eligible for this team must be U.S. citizens who are 23 years old or younger and currently are freshmen, sophomores or juniors in college. 

Training camp to select the 12-member U.S. roster will be August July 31-Aug. 4 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Players selected to the team will continue training at the USOTC through Aug. 7 before departing for Tokyo."

To have an idea which players might make the roster, the United States squad at the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Women included big names like Napheesa Collier, Lauren Cox, Mariya Moore, Crystal Dangerfield, Azura Stevens, Shakayla Thomas, and tournament MVP A'ja Wilson.

These players are all obviously still within the age limit. They have been doing well in the college level too so expect some of them to be included in the roster.

Japan, Canada, and Australia shall all probably be using this tournament as an early preparation for the 2018 FIBA Women's World Championship, assuming they all top their respective continental championships and qualify for the worlds. The tournament is also a chance for these squads to discover more future national team players.

Japan is the two-time reigning Asian champion although Australia and New Zealand are now included in the FIBA Asia zone while Canada is the reigning FIBA Americas champion.