ISU Women’s Basketball Coach Bill Fennelly is doing something this August he’s never done before.

“I’ve always wanted to coach a team for the United States,” he said.

A team of 12 Big 12 Conference all-stars, including ISU guard Anne O’Neil, will wear U.S. uniforms when they participate in the World University Games in Daegu, South Korea Aug. 20—31.

Fennelly said he was on the USA Women’s Olympic Festival staff in 1994, when he coached at Toledo. This will be his first head coaching position on an international level.

Twenty-two countries will be represented in South Korea, Fennelly said. Played every two years, the competition is for athletes between the ages of 17 and 28 who attend or have attended a university in the past year.

Fennelly said it was an honor for the Big 12 to be chosen to represent the entire country, and that the squad of players from nine conference teams will be exciting to coach.

“The practices will be competitive; the games will be competitive,” he said. “Players will remember this.”

According to the World University Games Web site, www.universiade-daegu.org, Fennelly’s squad will participate in group play against teams from Italy, Hungary, Australia and Thailand.

The games aren’t the only appealing part of the competition, Fennelly said.

“You’re going to see a part of the world you haven’t seen before,” he said. “It’s a tremendous experience.”

Fennelly said he and other Big 12 coaches nominated players for the U.S. team before settling on a roster. Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State decided not to send players because of conflicts with other events and the start of fall semester classes.

Of the 12 players on the team, eight were on the 2003 All-Big 12 women’s basketball squad.

ISU assistant coach Latoja Harris and Missouri head coach Cindy Stein round out Fennelly’s staff for the tournament.

In her first season for Iowa State, O’Neil averaged 10 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

In eight seasons with the Cyclones, Fennelly has compiled a 174—75 record, taking Iowa State to six NCAA Tournaments. They reached the Elite Eight in 1999 and won the Big 12 in 2000.