PARIS (AP) — U.S. women’s basketball players have been saying for years that winning in the Olympics isn't easy and France showed at the Paris Games that their comments are more than just rhetoric to keep fans interested.
The rest of the world is catching up to the U.S., though Olympic gold should continue to run through America.
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United States' A'ja Wilson (9) grabs a loose ball in front of Janelle Salaun (13), of France, during a women's gold medal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
United States' Diana Taurasi reacts after winning her sixth gold medal at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The United States team poses for a picture with their gold medals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
United States' A'ja Wilson, (9) shoots for a basket as Marieme Badiane (22), attempts tp block, during a women's gold medal basketball game between the United States and France at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (Gregory Shamus/Pool Photo via AP)
The United States team poses for a picture with their gold medals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The future for USA Basketball looks bright with A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart in their prime. Then there also is a extremely talented young group of players who say they want to be in the pipeline, led by Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and Juju Watkins.
They could help anchor the national team, which is in a bit of a transition with the retirement of Diana Taurasi, who finished her career with a record six gold medals.
The Americans captured their record eighth Olympic gold medal Sunday by the narrowest of margins with a 67-66 victory over France. The U.S. won its six games in the tournament by an average of 15.7 points — the lowest during its streak.
“The parity of women’s basketball is just only continuing to grow,” Stewart said. “So I think, you know, we know it’s not easy.”
France became the first team to come within a hair of beating the U.S in the Olympics during its record 61-game winning streak that dates back to the 1992 Barcelona Games. Only two other teams had come within single digits of the Americans in those 32 years.
“Maybe they won’t say it’s just easy and we walk in and just win gold,” said U.S. center Brittney Griner. who broke down in tears when she was presented her third gold medal. “Maybe they’ll stop saying that, because, like I said, we see everybody’s best shot. And we saw the shot that France gave us.”
The U.S. will get homecourt during the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles. The Americans had played the last two gold medal games against teams from the host nation.
Griner said “we'll see” when asked if she'll be playing in the Los Angeles Games.
Even if she doesn't decide to play — she'll be 37 at that point— the U.S. should return its top two stars Stewart and Wilson, who are only 29 and 28 years old respectively.
The pair could potentially play in a few more Olympics. With the exception of Taurasi, no one on this year’s Olympic team would be older than 37 by the time the 2028 Olympics happen.
“I think being able to learn from a lot of the veteran players here, knowing it’s kind of my time and a lot of our times that, this younger generation is able to kind of take this legacy and continue to push forward and go for nine,” said Sabrina Ionescu, who earned her first Olympic gold medal. “This is a program that has always sort of made it look easy. But I always said it’s not.”
The major question potentially is who will be coaching the team in Los Angeles.
Cheryl Reeve could come back to coach the team, although it's extremely rare that a coach does a second stint. Only Geno Auriemma, who coached in 2012 and 2016, has done that.
If the U.S. goes another direction, there's a few potential candidates. Assistant Kara Lawson, who won gold as a player in 2008 and also guided the inaugural 3x3 U.S. team in 2021 to first place could be on the list. A trio of WNBA coaches have experience with USA Basketball: Curt Miller, Stephanie White and Tanisha Wright also could be considered.
A dark horse could be Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon. She hasn't been involved with USA Basketball at all yet and played for Russia in the 2008 Olympics. Yet no WNBA coach has been more successful the last few years than Hammon, who has led the Aces to back-to-back WNBA championships.
With the Aces' core of Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young potentially back in 2028, Hammon would certainly have their endorsement.
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
United States' A'ja Wilson (9) grabs a loose ball in front of Janelle Salaun (13), of France, during a women's gold medal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
United States' Diana Taurasi reacts after winning her sixth gold medal at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The United States team poses for a picture with their gold medals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
United States' A'ja Wilson, (9) shoots for a basket as Marieme Badiane (22), attempts tp block, during a women's gold medal basketball game between the United States and France at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (Gregory Shamus/Pool Photo via AP)
The United States team poses for a picture with their gold medals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A female student was killed and another student was wounded Wednesday in a shooting in a Nashville high school cafeteria, police said.
The 17-year-old shooter, who was also a student at Antioch High School, later shot and killed himself with a handgun, Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news conference. Police identified him as Solomon Henderson.
Police Chief John Drake said the shooter “confronted” a 16-year-old female student in the cafeteria and opened fire, killing her. Police identified her as Josselin Corea Escalante. Drake said police are looking into a motive and whether the students who were shot were targeted.
The male student who was wounded suffered a graze, and was treated and released from the hospital, Drake said. Another student was taken to a hospital for treatment of a facial injury that happened during a fall, Aaron said.
There were two school resource officers in the building when the shooting happened around 11 a.m. CDT, Aaron said. They were not in the immediate vicinity of the cafeteria and by the time they got down there the shooting was over and the gunman had killed himself, Aaron said.
The school has about 2,000 students and is located in Antioch, a neighborhood about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of downtown Nashville.
At a family safety center close to a hospital, officials were helping shocked parents to reunite with their children.
Dajuan Bernard was waiting at a Mapco service station to reunite with his son, a 10th grader, who was being held in the auditorium with other students on Wednesday afternoon. He first heard of the shooting from his son who “was a little startled,” Bernard said. His son was upstairs from the cafeteria but said he heard the gunfire.
“He was OK and let me know that everything was OK,” Bernard said.
“This world is so crazy, it could happen anywhere," he said. "We’ve just got to protect the kids, and raise the kids right to prevent them from even doing this. That’s the hardest part.”
Fonda Abner, whose granddaughter is a student at the school, said Antioch High does not have metal detectors that would alert officials to the presence of a gun. She said her granddaughter had called her a couple of times but that she only heard commotion and thought it was a pocket dial. They spoke briefly before being cut off.
“It’s nerve-wracking waiting out here,” Abner said.
Adrienne Battle, superintendent of Nashville schools, said public schools have implemented a “range of safety measures," including partnerships with police for school resource officers, security cameras with weapon-detection software, shatter-resistant film for glass, and security vestibules that are a barrier between outside visitors and the main entrance.
“Unfortunately, these measures were not enough to stop this tragedy,” Battle said.
She noted that there are questions about whether stationary metal detectors should be considered.
“While past research has shown they have had limitations and unintended consequences, we will continue to explore emerging technologies and strategies to strengthen school safety,” Battle said.
Wednesday’s school shooting comes nearly two years after a shooter opened fire at a separate Nashville private elementary school and killed six people, including three children.
The tragedy prompted a monthslong effort among hundreds of community organizers, families, protesters and many more pleading with lawmakers to consider passing gun control measures in response to the shooting.
However, in a Republican-dominant state, GOP lawmakers refused to do so. With the Republican supermajority intact after November’s election, it’s unlikely attitudes have changed enough to consider any meaningful bills that would address gun control.
Instead, lawmakers have been more open to adding more security to schools — including passing a bill last year that would allow some teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns on public school grounds, and bar parents and other teachers from knowing who was armed.
Antioch has endured other prominent shootings in recent years. A 2017 fatal shooting at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ killed one woman and wounded seven people. And in 2018, a shooter killed four people at a Waffle House.
Associated Press writers Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed.
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake talks to media following a shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
School buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Students wait to get off a bus at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A students and a family member walk from the Antioch High School after a shooting in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
People wait as school buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
School buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Families wait as school buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
An ambulance leaves the Antioch High School following a shooting in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
An ambulance leaves the Antioch High School following a shooting in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Families wait a school buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Dasia Pleitez prays as she waits for her daughter at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
School bus arrives at a unification site following a shooting at at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
School buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A school bus arrives at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
People wait as school buses arrive at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
An ambulance leaves the Antioch High School following a shooting in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A school bus arrives at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)