SOUTH BEND -- Skylar Diggins will get to spend part of her summer vacation in Argentina. The South Bend Washington senior will not be on vacation though. It will be all business, for the most part, for the Panther basketball superstar.

Diggins was selected Thursday as a member of USA Basketball’s Women’s U18 National Team. The 12-member squad, chosen from a field of 35 invitees after three days of trials at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, will compete in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women July 23-27 in Buenos, Aires.

The latest honor for Diggins is just confirmation of her status as one of the country’s top players. The 5-9 southpaw guard, known for her tremendous work ethic, was one of just four high school seniors tabbed for the prestigious team.

“It’s an indescribable feeling,’’ Diggins said on the USA Basketball website Thursday following her selection. “A lot of people dream of this. It’s one thing to represent your city or your state, but it’s a whole other level to represent your country. It’s an amazing opportunity.

“To be invited here is an honor in itself and to get picked to represent your country is huge. I’m very happy. I think everyone brings something different to the table and that’s why they chose us. We have posts, guards and shooters and I think whatever role they need me to play I will.’’

Diggins was traveling Thursday and was not available for further comment on her selection to the U18 squad.

Diggins, a Parade first-team and USA Today third-team All-American, averaged 29.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game her junior season for the 23-3 Panthers. She is 76-6 in her prep career with three straight Class 4-A state finals appearances, including a state championship in 2007, and has scored 2,036 points.

Diggins helped her team go 5-0 and win a gold medal in the 2007 USA Basketball Women’s Youth Development Festival. Eleven of the 12 players picked Thursday took part in that event.

“I think the committee did a great job selecting the right kids, the right fit and a balanced group that I think will work well together,’’ said USA U18 National Team head coach Carol Owens. “I’m really excited about the 12 who will be joining us in July. I can’t wait to get them in practice.’’
Owens, currently the head coach at Northern Illinois, spent 10 years as an assistant coach at Notre Dame. Her assistants for the U18 team are Joe McKeown of Northwestern University and Terri Mitchell of Marquette University.

The U18 roster features eight players who will be college freshman in the fall. The list includes Alyssia Brewer (Sapulpa, Okla.), SheKinna Stricklen (Morrilton, Ark.), Sarah Boothe (Gurnee, Ill.), Nneka Ogwumike (Cypress, Texas), Ashley Corral (Vancouver, Wash.), Lynetta Kizer (Woodbridge, Va.), Samantha Prahalis (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and Nikki Speed (Pasadena, Calif.). Brewer and Stricklen will play at Tennessee, Booth and Ogwumike at Stanford, Corral at USC, Kizer at Maryland, Prahalis at Ohio State and Speed at Rutgers.

The team will include plenty of Hoosier flavor. The four seniors on the squad include Diggins and Kelly Faris, a 5-11 forward from Heritage Christian in Indianapolis. Faris, who has made a verbal commitment to play at Connecticut, has led her team to three straight Class 2-A state championships. The other pair of high school seniors named to the team were Kelsey Bone (Stafford, Texas) and Joslyn Tinkle (Missoula, Mont.). Faris is the only of the four to make a verbal commitment thus far.

The U18 National Team will train at the USOTC from July 10-16 and in Washington, D.C. July 17-20. The Americas zone qualifier, which features eight teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean, is July 23-27. The top four finishing teams qualify for the 2009 FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship, which will be held July 23-Aug. 2 in Bangkok, Thailand.