EAST LANSING — Grace VanSlooten has had a few different experiences with USA Basketball.
And each of those has ended with the Michigan State women’s basketball forward returning home with a gold medal.
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But the latest gold medal stands out as the most notable for VanSlooten because of the competition faced during the FIBA AmeriCup in Chile in early July.
In past experiences with USA Basketball in 2022 and 2023, VanSlooten competed against players her age in U18 and U19 play. But in Chile, VanSlooten competed against WNBA players and other professionals such as Brazil’s Kamilla Cardoso (Chicago Sky) and Damiris Dantas (Indiana Fever) and Canada’s Shay Colley — a former Michigan State guard now playing overseas.
Michigan State forward Grace VanSlooten contributed to the USA winning a gold medal at the FIBA AmeriCup on July 6. It was the third time winning gold with Team USA for VanSlooten, who was also part of the champion FIBA U18 and U19 teams in 2022 and 2023.
“When we played Canada and Brazil, those games were big-time games,” VanSlooten said. “You’re playing basically professionals and we were a bunch of college kids. I think that really stood out to me. Every other time I’ve been with (USA Basketball) we’ve been playing people our age. To kind of go in there and play some pros and have that physicality and competitiveness, it was a lot of fun.”
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While having fun, VanSlooten also made a mark on the court for Team USA. One of her best performances of the tournament came in the title game against Brazil on July 6. She had eight points and four rebounds in 25 minutes and helped the USA outscore Brazil by 15 points during her time on the court in the 92-84 win.
VanSlooten averaged 5.6 points and 4.7 rebounds during the seven games and believes her latest USA Basketball experience can help as she prepares for her senior season and second in the MSU program after transferring from Oregon.
“It definitely raises your level of play,” VanSlooten said. “Everybody there was competing for time, everybody wants to play. I think playing those really good players, you’ve got to bring your best every single day and especially in such a short time frame. We practiced for four days before we left for Chile and (it was about) making the most of those practice days and making sure you’re 100% there every minute of every day. I think it gave me a lot of good experience and I want to bring that attitude back here.”
The gold medal was the latest momentum boost for VanSlooten, who finished her junior season on a high note with a strong showing in the NCAA tournament for the Spartans. Now she’s ready to grow her game and put together a strong final season at MSU.
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“I think continuing to work on my outside game — I think that’s really big for me and also trying to step up as a leader on the court vocally,” VanSlooten said. “That’s always been a tough area for me — being more vocal. I tend to lead by example so it’s really trying to find my voice on this team and get to know everybody and just get that chemistry down as fast as we can.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: USA experience ‘raises level of play’ for MSU’s Grace VanSlooten
