Angel Reese embraces role within USA Basketball’s ‘Young and Turnt Crew’

MIAMI — When Angel Reese was a kid, she remembers watching FIBA World Cup games with her grandmother, who somehow found a way to get them on TV. That was her introduction to USA Basketball. Reese still isn’t sure how her grandma tracked those games down, but the days of hunting for random livestreams are over.

For the first time, TNT will broadcast the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament in March, as well as the World Cup in Berlin in September.

The spotlight is on a new era for USA Basketball. Longtime mainstays Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird have retired. Reese is now part of an emerging core that includes Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Kiki Iriafen, four players making their senior national team debuts.

At a previous training camp at Duke University in Durham, Bueckers started calling the young group the “Young and Turnt Crew.”

“Every time we step on the court you see passion, you see fire, you see a competitive spirit about us, whether it be in the way that we show our emotions, the way we show our passion, the way we talk our stuff,” Bueckers said. “We don’t shy away from that. We embrace that.”

What Bueckers is trying to say: these kids like talking sh*t.

“That’s the type of vocal I like,” Bird said of Bueckers’ trash talk.

Bird, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, didn’t stray far from USA Basketball in retirement. She’s now the managing director of USA women’s basketball, in charge of assembling the roster.

She handpicked the Young and Turnt Crew as part of a 12-player team that will compete in the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico next week. She liked what she saw on the first day of camp in Miami.

“I think there’s enough veteran leadership here that can allow [the young core] to be themselves but also guide them along the way,” Bird said. “And that’s exactly what it was for me when I was first coming through USA Basketball.”

It may be the Young and Turnt Crew’s first time wearing USA across their chest in senior team competition. But as the veterans made clear throughout camp, these aren’t typical youngsters.

The veterans, which include three-time gold medalist Breanna Stewart, said they want to be a sounding board and advise on the ins and outs of USA Basketball. At the same time, they noted that the younger players have already played in high-stakes games and know what they’re doing.

For the young core, it will be their first competitive 5-on-5 action of the offseason. Bueckers and Iriafen spent the winter playing in the 3-on-3 league Unrivaled, while Reese and Clark mostly trained on their own.

“A lot of the girls we’re talking about are like, we haven’t seen 5-on-5 in months,” Reese said. “It’s just good to be here. I’m really happy to be a part of it.”

The team won’t have much time to ramp up. Camp in Miami is being run by assistant coaches Nate Tibbetts (Mercury), Natalie Nakase (Valkyries) and Jose Fernandez (Wings) before the group heads to Puerto Rico.

The tournament runs March 11–17, beginning with a matchup against Senegal. The United States has already qualified for the World Cup, but many of the other teams will be clawing for a spot.

“Globally, you have to understand when you put that jersey on, it’s different,” Bird said. “People come at you different.”

Veterans say the biggest difference in international play is physicality, which should suit Reese. Her defining traits have always been toughness, edge and fearlessness. Bueckers even gave Reese the nod as the second-best trash talker in the group behind herself.

And in Puerto Rico, Reese may have the biggest opportunity of anyone in the Young and Turnt Crew.

An injury to Aliyah Boston and the absence of key Olympic veterans such as A’ja Wilson and Alyssa Thomas leaves more room in the post rotation.

Bird clarified that players such as Wilson and Napheesa Collier remain firmly in the mix for the World Cup roster in September.

In the meantime, Reese can make her mark.

With a thin post rotation, Dearica Hamby, Iriafen and Monique Billings are the only other true frontcourt players. Reese will likely see significant minutes at both the four and the five.

“You come here and you’re a sponge to whatever position they put you out as,” Reese said. “Everybody here can score. Everybody’s the star of their team. So you come here and try to find your role and your fit.”

The guard spot, meanwhile, is loaded. There’s the “Point Gawd” Chelsea Gray, pure scorer Jackie Young and sharpshooter Kelsey Plum. Not to mention Kahleah Copper, Reese’s “big sister” and the player who helped seal the gold medal game in Paris.

Still, don’t expect Clark and Bueckers to be grabbing towels for the veterans.

“I don’t always buy into age dictating your experience level,” Bird said. “I think it can come in all different forms.”

Bird sees Bueckers in particular as a “connector” and wants her leading vocally already.

For Clark, the camp was a chance to shake off some rust and nerves. It will be her competitive debut after nagging injuries kept her out of most of the 2025 WNBA season.

She spent the offseason rebuilding her conditioning, playing five-on-five with former men’s college players and pros. She said she has turned a corner mentally in the last couple of months and is no longer worried about the injury.

As for the Young and Turnt Crew as a whole, Reese is ready for the shift from rivals to teammates.

“It’ll be so much fun,” Reese said. “People are already messaging me about being in Puerto Rico and they can’t wait to see all of us.”