Acclimation and competition will be the focus for West Virginia University women's basketball junior guard Tynice Martin as she opens up the first of a five-day camp at the USA Basketball U23 National Team Training Camp on Monday in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

 

For Martin, she'll compete against 36 other up-and-coming collegiate student-athletes for a spot on the 12-member USA U23 National Team that will compete in the 2017 U23 Four Nations Tournament, Aug. 12-15, in Tokyo, Japan.

 

To prepare for the steep altitude change in Colorado Springs, Martin has focused on pre-acclimation workouts this summer.  

 

“The altitude in Colorado Springs can be a challenge and the talent is great, so I will have to work hard,” stated Martin. “I have been doing extra conditioning such as full body and lifting.”

 

In her sophomore season, Martin excelled becoming an unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection and earning Most Outstanding Player honors after scoring 82 points en route to WVU's first Big 12 Conference Tournament championship.

 

Additionally, after averaging 18.6 points per game and scoring a Big 12 Tournament final game-record 32 points, the Atlanta native became the first sophomore in program history to earn All-America Honorable Mention from both the Associated Press and Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

 

This offseason, Martin has focused on improving her game on the court and becoming more vocal off of it.

 

“I have been working on my ball handling, rebounding the ball and driving to the basket more,” Martin stated. “I've also been working on my leadership skills. With our freshmen coming in, I am a junior, so I have to be more of a leader and more vocal.”

 

The five-day experience in Colorado Springs will help Martin develop more much like it helped former Mountaineer standout Bria Holmes in the 2015 USA Basketball Team Trials. For Martin, she'll gain perspective from other DI coaches across the country and compete against the nation's best.

 

“It will be a good thing because you have people looking at your game in different ways,” Martin said. “It will be great competing against the other athletes because it will let me know where I am and where I need to go.”

 

The USA Basketball U23 training camp begins at 7:45 p.m. ET on Monday and will conclude on Friday with a medal game competition. The final day of training camp on Aug. 4 will feature the bronze medal game at 10 a.m., and the gold medal game at 11:30 a.m. The bronze and gold medal games will be streamed live on usab.com/live.