COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Incoming freshman Lynetta Kizer is currently training with the U18 U.S. National Team. She writes about her first day in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the Olympic Training Center. The team is preparing for the FIBA America U18 World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 23-27. Kizer is a McDonald's, Parade and WBCA All-American and will join the Terrapins in the fall.

July 10

Arriving in Colorado

After waking up at six in the morning and traveling across the country, I'm pretty excited to step on the court again with my new teammates in Colorado and the Olympic Training Center. When I arrived in Colorado, I was greeted by the USA Basketball staff and received our gear and the schedule for the next three weeks. The schedule consisted of the two-a-days and team activities where we could get to know each other more. By the time I'm done reading the schedule, I'm pretty excited but I know it's going to be a long road to get the gold.

First Practice

5 o'clock came around pretty quickly and we were all dressed and on the court ready for our first practice. They split us up by position, separating the guards and posts. We started off going through a number of "Big Man" drills. Everybody was enthusiastic and cheering each other on as we moved from drill to drill. Practice went great until free throws came into play. One after the other, we stepped up to the stripe and missed our share of free throws, except in our practices, that results in a one down-and-back until we make it. Down and back, down and back ... we ran until all 12 of us made our free throws. By that time, we could barely inhale. Not to mention, we are a mile above sea level. But we pulled it together and after the last free throw went through the net, our practice came to an end.

Lights Out

After practice, my teammates and I walked over to the dining hall and had the best dinner ever - grilled salmon with steamed vegetables and white rice. It was delicious and I would've gone back for seconds if I had room in my stomach for more. After dinner, we walked over to the dorms and showered, then headed back to the rooms for curfew. My roommate (Shekinna Stricklen) and I watched some TV and went over the schedule again. We realized two-a-days for the next two weeks was not going to be the easiest thing but we were all here for one reason and that's to get the gold. Finally, we turned off the TV and prepared ourselves for our first two-a-day coming up.