Nicole Ekhomu, freshman guard for the Joliet Catholic Academy Varsity Basketball Team and the Bolingbrook Panthers AAU Program, has been selected by the USA Selection Committee as one of 30 girls from around the country to try out for the USA U16 team. The trials are held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado May 23-27. If Nicole is selected to the U16 National Team, she will return to Colorado Springs on June 9 to train and participate in the FIBA Americas U16 Championship June 19-24 in Cancun, Mexico.

USA Basketball is the national governing body for basketball in the United States. Any team representing the United States in international basketball competitions is selected, trained and supported by USA Basketball. The competition Nicole has been selected for is the entry level competition for elite basketball athletes in the U.S. and will serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2014 U17 FIBA World Championship.

In her first season of varsity basketball, Nicole has scored 115 points for the Joliet Catholic Angels, averaging at 19.2 points per game. At her peak, she drove in 36 points in a 73-70 victory over Fenwick. Nicole has also made an average of 3.5 steals and 3.3 rebounds per game this season. Bret McCormick, publisher of All-Star Girls Report, ranked Nicole as the number 5 freshman in the country. It is also worth mentioning that Nicole has been named to the Voyager Media All-Area team, the Herald News All-Area team, and the East Suburban Catholic Conference All- Conference team. She was also an honorable mention for the Associated Press All-State team. Of her many on-the-court accomplishments, perhaps her crowning glory is having helped propel this year’s team to a 3A Regional Championship for the first time in 6 years. “Nicole is a special talent with an ability that’s hard to replicate”, says ESCC Coach of the Year Ed Schodrof to the Herald News.We here at JCA are very proud to have such an outstanding player on our team. Good luck and may you many years of success, Nicole!