In just over a year, Lia Galdeira has gone from being one of the best high school basketball players in Hawaii to one of the best in the nation.
Galdeira, a 2012 Konawaena graduate, and 33 other players from across the country will attend a FIBA U19 tryout in hopes of making a 12-member United States national team that will shoot for its fifth straight gold medal at the FIBA U19 world championships.
The tryout will take place May 16-19 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Lithuania will host the world championships July 18-28.
Galdeira, who helped lead Konawaena to three Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I state titles in a four-year span and now plays college basketball at Washington State, is the first Cougar to receive a national team invite since Camille Thompson played for the Canadian national team in 1993.
“I am very excited and proud to represent both Washington State and our country while playing with and against some of the best players in the world,” Galdeira said in a press release.
This past season, Galdeira, earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention, All-Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Freshman Team honors for a Cougars team that went 11-20 overall and 6-12 in the Pac-12. She led Washington State in scoring (14.8 points per game), rebounding (5.2 rebounds per game), steals (86) and 3-pointers (41).
Galdeira was the nation’s second-leading freshman scorer, collecting four 20-point games and two double-doubles.
“We are very excited for Lia to receive this great opportunity to showcase her talents against some of the best players in the country and in the world,” Cougars coach June Daugherty said in the release. “There is nothing better than having the opportunity to represent our country, and we are proud of Lia to receive this honor. She has worked to improve her game, and she has earned this opportunity to participate in the highest level of amateur basketball.”
The University of Miami’s Katie Meier will coach the FIBA U19 national team while LSU’s Nikki Caldwell and Gonzaga’s Kelly Graves will serve as assistant coaches.
