Grace Vanslooten, 14, blocks Serah Williams, 25, on Feb. 12, 2025. The Spartans advanced throughout the game and won 91-71.
MSU’s own Grace VanSlooten – an upcoming senior forward on the women’s basketball team – will take part in the AmeriCup tournament in Santiago, Chile, from June 28-July 6, as announced on Thursday, June 19. The team of college athletes was selected by the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee.
Including USC’s Kennedy Smith and Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke, VanSlooten is one of three on the roster currently in the conference of the Big Ten.
The forward is also one of six athletes on the squad who are gold medal winners – capturing the medal in 2023 on the USA U19 Women’s National Squad. She is the first Spartan to represent Team USA since 2015 when Aerial Powers partook and helped lead the team to gold in the World University Games.
After just one impressive season with Michigan State – after spending the first two years of her collegiate playing career at the University of Oregon – VanSlooten’s 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game was a team lead. Playing in 31 games, making a start in 23 of those, she earned Second Team All-Big Ten Honors during her first season in the conference.
Team USA will begin gameplay against host team Chile as the squad hunts to clinch a spot in the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, set to be held in Berlin, Germany during the summer of 2026.
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