Incoming Trojans Kayleigh Heckel, Kennedy Smith Named To USA U18 Team For FIBA AmeriCup

USC women's basketball signees Kayleigh Heckel and Kennedy Smith have earned a place on the United States' U18 National Team, now set for a trip to Colombia with Team USA to compete at the 2024 FIBA U18 AmeriCup next month. 

The two Trojans will start their freshman years at USC for the coming 2024-25 season as members of a top-rated incoming class of talent. A 5-9 guard out of Port Chester, N.Y., Heckel will be making her Team USA debut. Smith, a 6-1 forward from nearby Chino, Calif., represented the USA at the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit.

Both McDonald's All-Americans, Heckel and Smith were two of 26 players called into USA U18 trials in Colorado Springs. From there, the final roster of 12 was named on May 18 by USA Basketball. Heckel and Smith will report back to Colorado Springs for training camp next month to prepare for the FIBA U18 AmeriCup competition, which runs June 17-23 in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

The 2024 FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup features eight teams. Recently, FIBA announced that the U.S. drew Group B with Brazil, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The USA will tip off competition June 17 vs. Brazil at 4:10 p.m. ET followed by tilts against Puerto Rico and Mexico on June 18 (4:10 p.m. ET) and 19 (1:40 p.m. ET), respectively. The USA women own 11 of 13 gold U18 gold medals and 10 consecutive dating back to 2000. The top four teams will earn a berth to the 2025 FIBA U19 Women's World Cup.