COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Now the hard part begins.

USA Basketball announced Wednesday the 33 athletes who have accepted invitations to attend the 2013 USA Basketball Women’s U16 National Team Trials from May 23-27 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

After putting in countless hours honing skills and oodles of sweat equity, the star prep players are ready to compete for a Red, White and Blue jersey.

Wait, there's more.

In addition to the 33 invitees, USA Basketball is conducting an open application process that is expected to add another 100-125 players who will compete for a roster spot on the USA U16 Team. The entire trials roster will be announced prior to the start of trials in mid-May.

“The committee is excited to welcome these 33 athletes and all of the applicant athletes that will participate in trials at the end of this month, and we are confident that we will have a very deep, talented pool from which we will select a 12-member roster," said Carol Callan, USA Basketball Women's National Team Director and non-voting chair of the Women's Developmental National Team Committee.

"It will be a challenge given the great interest, but it is one we look forward to meeting. Trials also will be an important opportunity to get to know these players and to help them understand what USA Basketball is all about. We have designed the weekend to provide every athlete with individual skill work, team concepts and off-the-court information that hopefully will help them develop as they move forward.”

Invited from the Class of 2015 include (players are listed with their high school and city, state): Bri Berryman  of Indian Creek (Wintersville, Ohio); DeJanae Boykin of C.H. Flowers (Springdale, Md.); Kalani Brown of Salmen (Slidell, La.); Kennedy Burke of Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.); Amari Carter of St. John’s  Washington, D.C.); Taja Cole of Byrd (Chesterfield, Va.); Te’a Cooper OF McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.); Asia Durr OF St. Pius X Catholic (Atlanta); Ashley Hearn of Sachse (Texas); Aliyah Jeune of Life Center Academy (Burlington Township, N.J.); Arike Ogunbowale of Divine Savior Holy Angels (Milwaukee); Teniya Page of Marian Catholic (Chicago Heights, Ill.); Caliya Robinson of Kell (Marietta, Ga.); Katie Lou Samuelson of Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.); and Faith Suggs Plainfield (Ill.) East.

Class of 2016: Jaelyn Brown of Vista Murrieta (Murietta, Calif.); DiJonai Carrington  of Horizon Christian Academy (San Diego, Calif.); Chassity Carter of Dickson Academy (Burns, Tenn.); Lauren Cox of Flower Mound (Texas); Crystal Dangerfield of Blackman (Murfreesboro, Tenn.); Chelsea Dungee of Preston (Okla.); Nicole Ekhomu of Joliet (Ill.) Catholic; Kysre Gondrezick of Benton Harbor (Mich.); Joyner Holmes of Cedar Hill (Texas); Jocelyn Jones of Cosby (Midlothian, Va.); Stephanie Jones of Havre de Grace (Md.); Tori McCoy of St. Thomas More (Champaign, Ill.); Krystaline McCune of Manual (Louisville, Ky.); Nancy Mulkey of Cypress Woods (Cypress, Texas); Amber Ramirez of Wagner (San Antonio, Texas); Celeste West of Garces Memorial (Bakersfield, Calif.); Jocelyn Willoughby of Newark Academy (Livingston, N.J.); and Anna Wilson of Collegiate School (Richmond, Va.).

Due to the anticipated number of participants, athletes will be divided into two groups for the skills sessions and the first four trials sessions. The roster will not be reduced until after at least the second trials session on May 25. The team is expected to be announced early on May 27.

The 12-member roster will reassemble for training camp June 10-16 at the USOTC prior to the team’s departure for Cancun, Mexico and the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship from June 19-23.

Sue Phillips of Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) is the head coach of the U16 National Team, while Mary Coyle Klinger of Rutgers Prep (Somerset, N.J.) and Brian Robinson of Bishop McGuinness (Kernersville, N.C.).

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Andrew Wiggins didn't need to shoulder the load Saturday night. This time he had plenty of help.

Wiggins, the nation's top-rated senior by Blue Star Media and a serious candidate for national player of the year honors via Canada and Huntington (W.Va.) Prep, hit for 17 points, but World Select teammate and Frenchman Livio Jean-Charles stole the show with 27 points in a 112-98 triumph over the USA Junior Select Team in the Nike Hoop Summit before 6,295 at the Rose Garden.

It was the second straight year the foreigners have defeated the Americans in the annual competition. The Americans still lead the series, 11-5, but the gaps is shrinking.

“We want to give the World Team all the credit,” said USA head coach Mike Jones of DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.). “They played a very good game, and are one of the most talented, if not the most talented, World Teams that we’ve had at the Hoop Summit. They played good pretty much start to finish."

Duke-bound Jabari Parker of Simeon (Chicago) led the USA with 22 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks; Julius Randle of Prestonwood Christian Academy (Plano, Texas) added 19 points and eight rebounds; Andrew Harrison Fort Bend Travis (Richmond, Texas) had five assists and was 10-of-12 from the free throw on the way to his 19 points and Rondaé Hollis-Jefferson of Chester (Pa.) rounded out the USA’s double-digit scorers with 17 points and six rebounds.

“It was a disappointing outcome, but it’s still an honor to play for your country, and being known as one of the top players in the country,” Andrew Harrison, a Kentucky commit, said.

Aaron Gordon of Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) slammed home the game’s first points off an assists by Florida-bound Kasey Hill of Montverde (Fla.) Academy and it was the only time the USA would lead in the game. Trailing 10-4 at 7:27, Andrew Harrison scored nine of his points over the next seven minutes to help the USA battle back to finish the first stanza down by just two points, 23-21.

The second quarter began with an 8-0 World Team run that was halted by a bucket from Bobby Portis of Hall (Little Rock, Ark.)at 8:02 that brought the score to 29-23, but the World Team continued to pull away. With 2:57 to go before halftime, 7-foot World Team center Karl Towns, Jr. of St. Joseph (Metuchen, N.J.), who has verbally committed to play at the University of Kentucky and represented the Dominican Republic, converted an traditional three-point play to give the internationals their largest lead of the first half, 47-31. Towns, a junior, collected seven points, four rebounds and four assists.

The USA fought back, and five U.S. scorers helped close the gap to within six points, 49-43 with just 8.9 seconds remaining on the clock. Canadian Andrew Wiggins was fouled on a last-second, 3-point heave, however, and sank all three free throws to give the World Team a 52-43 at the midway point.

After a World Team free throw to start the third period, Gordon, who finished with nine points, completed a three-point play at 9:21 to cut the deficit to seven, 53-46, at 9:21. The World Team responded with five unanswered points, however, and led 58-46 when 6’9” French forward Livio Jean-Charles, who finished with a game-high 27 points and 13 rebounds, scored off an offensive rebound at 8:00.

The teams traded baskets before a reverse dunk from Randle, who scored eight of his 19 points in the third period, was followed by a basket from Hollis-Jefferson to pull the USA within three points, 63-60 at 4:15. After a pull-up jumper from Andrew Harrison brought the USA within two points, 64-62 at 3:31, the World Team once again successfully distanced itself, closing with an 11-6 run to end the third stanza with a 74-66 lead.

The USA never quit, and despite 10 points from Parker in the final 10 minutes, could get no closer than nine points.

The World Team compiled a 50-35 advantage on the glass, including 20 offensive rebounds, and set several Nike Hoop Summit World Team records, including points scored (112), margin of victory (14 points), field goals made (38) and assists (24). Russia’s Sergey Karasev tied the World Team high for 3-point attempts with six. Jean-Charles canned 10 of 13 shots en route to a record scoring performance for the World team.

The USA was plagued by 16.7 percent shooting from 3-point (3-18 3pt FGs) and 61.8 percent from the free throw line (21 of 34).

Germany’s Dennis Schröder contributed 18 points and six assists; Wiggins tallied 17 points on 6 of 16 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists, and Australian Dante Exum added 16 points. The World Select Team shot 49% from the floor and featured four scorers in double digits.

“Obviously, I’m very pleased with the result,” said World Team head coach Roy Rana of Canada. “That was a really good game for the World Team, and probably the most impressive thing is the way we’ve shared the ball from the very first practice. Thought there was great chemistry, kids just phenomenal to coach.

"Like I told them in the locker room, certainly going to be one of my more memorable coaching experiences, just because of the quality of the kids that we’ve had here this week. I think that showed up on the floor. They were extremely unselfish, and I thought they played a great game," he added.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Bring on the world stars.

Adding 7-foot center Joel Embiid of Cameroon, who attends The Rock School (Gainesville, Fla.), and Lithuanian guard Tomas Dimsa, who plays for the professional club team Zalgiris-Sabonio in Lithuania, while previously announced guard Mario Hezonja (Croatia/Regal FC Barcelona) has withdrawn, the roster for the 2013 World Select Team that will compete in the 16^th annual Nike Hoop Summit Saturday at the Rose Garden.

The Nike Hoop Summit features America's top, senior high-school players versus a World Select Team featuring many of the world's best players age 19-years-old or younger.

Embiid will play college basketball at the University of Kansas next season. A soccer and volleyball player in Cameroon, Embiid played basketball for the first time at the start of 2011, and his first organized game late that year after moving to the United States. Having been spotted at a basketball camp in Africa by former Montverde Academy alumnus and current NBA player Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Embiid attended Montverde in Florida, before transferring to The Rock School.

Dimsa is in the middle of a successful season with his club team Zalgiris-Sabonio which plays in the NKL, the second tier professional league in Lithuania. Dimsa is averaging 11.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for his club this season and also has international experience dating back to 2010, when he won a silver medal with Lithuania at the U16 European Championship in Montenegro. A year later, he also was part of the Lithuanian team at the U18 European Championship in Poland.

Suiting up alongside Embiid and Dimsa for the World Team are: heralded prep forward Andrew Wiggins (Canada/Huntington Prep, W.Va.), who returns for his second Hoop Summit appearance and is the No. 1 senior prospect by Blue Star Media, having led the World Team with 20 points in an 84-75 victory in 2012; Gabriel Deck (Argentina/Quimsa Athletic Association Santiago del Estero); Dante Exum(Australia/Australian Institute of Sport); Nikola Ivanovic (Montenegro/KK Buducnost);Mouhammadou Jaiteh (France/Maritime Boulogne); Livio Jean-Charles (France/ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne); Sergey Karasev (Russia/Triumph Lyubertsy), who earned a bronze medal with Russia at the 2012 Olympics; Dennis Schröder (Germany/New Yorker Phantoms); and Karl Towns, Jr. (Dominican Republic/St. Joseph, Metuchen, N.J.), who has verbally committed to Kentucky in 2014.

For a third-straight year, Roy Rana will lead the World Team at the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit. Rana is a seven-year veteran of Canada Basketball who was appointed head coach of Canada's Junior National Team in 2012 and led the team to a bronze medal in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Brazil. The World Team assistant coach will be Serbia's Marin Sedlacek, who is making his 13th Nike Hoop Summit appearance.

The World Team seeks to repeat its 2012 success, when it defeated the USA 84-75 in front of a Rose Garden crowd of 10,666 and a national television audience. Overall, the United States holds an 11-4 advantage in the Nike Hoop Summit. 

An incredible 140 players who have participated in the Nike Hoop Summit have been drafted by NBA teams, including six No. 1 overall picks.

The list of World alumni includes: Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Serge Ibaka, Yi Jianlian,Luis Scola, Bismack Biyombo,Nicolas Batum,Andrea Bargnani, Omri Casspi, Enes Kanterand Vladimir Radmanovic.