In her thee years playing Kansas basketball, senior guard Danielle McCray has played against the top teams in the Big 12. Now she’ll have the opportunity to play some of the top teams in the world.

McCray was one of 14 finalists vying for a spot on the 12-person roster for Team USA in the World University Games. The final roster was announced Monday. McCray and the team will begin competing on July 1 in Belgrade, Serbia against France.

On Sunday before the announcement, McCray said, she thought her chances of making the team were pretty high.

After the announcement, she said, she was excited and looked forward to traveling to Serbia and winning a gold medal.

Coach Bonnie Henrickson got McCray involved with the tryouts.

“I signed her up without her knowing it,” Henrickson said.

Henrickson said she knew McCray wanted to try out and thought that with what she had produced for Kansas, along with her unselfishness as a player, she would be a good fit.

Henrickson was an assistant coach for Team USA during the World University Games in 1999, and also served as head coach for Team USA in 2000 when the team won the gold medal in Taiwan at the R. William Jones Cup.

The first round of Team USA tryouts went from May 14 to May 17. Of the 30 that tried out, McCray was chosen as one of the 14 finalists who began training on June 18 in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the U.S. Olympic training center.

McCray said the training center was a lot like a college campus.

“Everything is close,” McCray said. “The cafeteria, the place we stay at. Everything is within walking distance.”

McCray said she thought she had an advantage doing summer workouts for two weeks with her teammates, including Kansas’ incoming freshmen, before starting the intense training for Team USA.

“We have practice at 9 in the morning and at 5:30 p.m. for two and a half hours,” McCray said. “It’s been really intense practices, but I feel like I’m in good enough shape.”

McCray will play with 11 of the top players in women’s college basketball. Her teammates include fellow Big 12 guard Danielle Robinson from Oklahoma University and center Tina Charles, guard Tiffany Hayes and forward Maya Moore from the University of Connecticut, the 2009 Women’s National Champions.

McCray will play under Coach Charli Turner Thorne of Arizona State. McCray said that at first she was worried about playing under a different coach, but that Thorne was similar to Henrickson as far as intensity of coaching.

“I was worried at first because certain coaches want you to do certain things differently, but it all came together,” McCray said.

McCray said she looked forward to playing with great athletes and taking her experiences from this summer back to Kansas for the upcoming season. Henrickson said she thought McCray’s experience would be beneficial for the team.

“Her experiences will help her gain on both ends,” Henrickson said. “It’s an opportunity for her to challenge herself with the USA team and her experiences with that she can bring back to her teammates.”

— — Edited by Annie Vangsnes