OLATHE, Kan. — Eve Long was among the first wave of players cut from the USA Basketball junior national team tryouts last summer, but she used that disappointment to fuel her.
“The last trials was kind of a good awakening for me, showing me I have to really improve if I want to have a chance to make the team,” said Long, who is entering her junior year at Olathe South.
It also momentarily shook her confidence.
“Initially, I think it really kind of shook her system, her basketball system, because it was just such a jump,” Eve’s dad, Ben Long said. “Then, it just fueled her.”
Eve, a 6-foot-3 consensus top-10 recruit in the Class of 2027, worked on refining the basics — dribbling, long-range shooting, finishing at the rim — in hopes of making the USA Basketball U-16 squad this summer.
“We just made a list, and we said, ‘Hey, here's where we need to improve if you want to be able to be on the team next year,’” Ben said. “After that, it was like it was all game on.”
Not only did Eve make the FIBA U-16 Women’s AmeriCup 2025 roster, she was selected to the tourney’s All-Star Five after helping USA Basketball win gold last week in Irapuato, Mexico.
“I was honestly very surprised,” she said. “I mean, I'm on a team full of all-stars. It could have been anybody. but obviously I was very grateful.”
Eve averaged 11.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks in six games during the AmeriCup, a biannual continental championships for teams from the Americas.
She scored 17 points in a 101-46 win against Argentina to close group play and made all five field-goal attempts during a 131-12 quarterfinal win against Panama.
Eve closed the tourney with 12 points, four rebounds, an assist, two steals and three blocks in USA Basketball’s 85-59 win against Canada in the gold-medal game, the fifth straight title in the event for the red, white and blue.
“Our family has always loved the Olympics,” Ben said. “We always loved international soccer. We love watching countries play against each other — the passion of it, the excitement. So, to see her standing for the national anthem before an event like that then eventually see her on the podium, celebrating with her teammates playing in the USA jersey, was just amazing.”
Other than the food, Eve said it was a fantastic experience and now she hopes to make the FIBA U-17 Women's Basketball World Cup next summer in the Czech Republic.
“The gold-medal experience is amazing, but I hope I can do it again next year,” Eve said. “I think that just drives me to want to do it again. I want to be a two-time gold medalist, maybe even have a chance of being a three-time.”
Eve already has earned offered from more than a dozen Power 4 programs — Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, California, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Miami (Florida), Michigan Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole MIss and SMU — but she’s yet to hear from the reigning national champions.
“I would love a UConn offer,” said Eve, who attended former Huskies star Breanna Stewart’s camp. “They are national champions, so that'd be amazing and they're an amazing program. But I'm really content with all the offers and the relationships I've built with schools. But that would be like a dream offer. That's just insane.”
Insane? Maybe, but not impossible — not for Eve Long on the basketball court.
She is ranked seventh overall among rising juniors by 247 Sports and checks in ninth, according to ESPN
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