Download Adobe Flash Player.

© 2009, Inside Womens Basketball. All rights reserved.

There are a handful of kids who have grown up courtside while their mothers or fathers coached great college or pro teams. The basketball royalty starts with Tyler Summit, who has cut down the nets eight times with his mother Pat Summit after she led the Tennessee Lady Vols to multiple national championships. There is Jeremiah and Austin Rivers who have been courtside since their father Doc Rivers was an NBA player and now coach of the World Champion Boston Celtics. The story is similar for Taylor Agler, the 15-year-old daughter of Brian Agler, the head coach of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. For as long as Taylor can remember her father has been coaching women’s professional basketball. It all started in Columbus, Ohio when Taylor was a toddler. At that time, Brian was the head coach of the Columbus Quest of the American Basketball League. Taylor was just four years old when the Quest won their first ABL Championship. Taylor remembered one of her earliest and fondest memories of Katie Smith taking her tricker treating! “When I started watching my dad’s players play, I wanted to be just like Katie Smith”, recalls Taylor. “She’s like family to us.” The courtside experiences do not end there. Over the last 12 years Brian has had coached for four different WNBA teams including Minnesota, San Antonio and Phoenix before landing in Seattle. Taylor has had thoroughly enjoyed the spoils of her father’s career with courtside seats and unlimited access to locker rooms and practices. “Being able to sit behind WNBA benches and going to their practices and talking to the players has probably helped me and made me a better player more than practicing because I realize what I have to do to get better”, says Taylor, a talented point guard, who is steadily becoming one of the top prospects in the state of Ohio for the class of 2013. The freshman for Olentangy High School said her aspiration to be like Katie Smith was the seed her parents watered. While her father was coaching for the Quest, he was also coaching Taylor and her older brother Bryce in youth basketball leagues. I’ve probably coached more youth basketball games than anything else,” laughs Brian about coaching his kids. “It’s just been fun working them and enjoyable to see their games evolve.” Taylor describes her dad as a laid back coach who rarely yells at his players. “He’s more of a mental coach - he’ll give you a look and you’ll know what he’s trying to say to you. He’s taught me how to self correct during a game.” Brian coached Taylor up to middle school, then he put down the whistle and picked up a video camera. The two would have frequent tape sessions, breaking down Taylor’s game and seeing how she could improve. From the outside people could jump to the conclusion that Agler has pressured his kids into playing basketball, but it’s been quite the opposite. “I usually drive him crazy talking about my basketball games all the time,” laughs Taylor. “I go to him for everything. First it starts off like a normal father daughter conversation, but then we start talking about basketball and where I’ve played lately and he points out what I’ve done right and what I’ve done wrong and how I can get better.” Bias aside, Agler sees potential in his daughter, “she has a chance to be very-very good. She puts a lot of time into it, she loves the game and she spends a lot of time working on her skills by herself.” Taylor has dreams of one day playing the WNBA and then possibly coaching. For now, she’s content to keep working on her game and taking advice from a world-class coach and father! “He’s helped me a lot in my basketball career, I love having him as coach and a dad too!” With the recent emergence of Brittney Griner, the dunk in the women’s game is getting more press than ever. The 6’8” Baylor freshman had 52 dunks in high school and is setting to push the women’s college game far above rim. From now on, no one will ever be able to say they won’t watch women’s basketball because the ladies can’t dunk. Get ready to enjoy the next four years because it’s going to be history in the making for our game! While you’re watching, we also want you to know the history from where came.. The next few pages will take an in-depth look at the recorded history of the dunk in the women’s game. We confirmed 16 women who have dunked in high school, college and pro games in the United States and there is likely more! Nera White Long before Title Nine and decades before the NCAA was established, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) was the governing body of women’s basketball. From 1955 through 1969 the undeniable star of women’s basketball was Nera White. The slender 6’1” center led Nashville Business College to 10 national titles, including eight in a row. She is the first woman on record to dunk. In an interview with the Sporting News, Sue Gunter described White as pioneer of the game. "She was the first woman I ever saw dunk it.” Gunter was White’s AAU teammate and went on to become the legendary coach of LSU. “She (White) was one of a few women with hands able to hold the ball and get up over the rim. The thing that set her apart from athletes in her era was her physical ability to run and dunk.” Back then the game was still half court, meaning six players were on the floor,- two in the offensive zone, two in the defensive zone and two players who could roam the floor. White was a great rebounder and sprinter. She was known for starting and finishing the fast break. Her passing and ball handling ability were equal to that of a point guard. Many compared her to Bill Russell. Born in Macon County on November 15, 1935, she attended Macon County High School where she started on the high school team as a freshman. She was the most valuable player for her high school district in 1954. White was also a 15-time AAU All-American and named MVP of the AAU National Tournament 10 times. In 1957 she led the USA to a gold medal in the World Championships. In 1999 she was inducted into the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. White now lives a quiet life on a small farm in Tennessee. 1970’s Pre game Dunks Nera White is widely recognized as the first woman to dunk in a game. Then there was a span of 15 years with no recorded dunks in a game. However, many witnessed women dunking in practice, warm-ups and exhibitions. We would like to recognize a few of them because they kept the dream alive of taking our game above the rim! Lucy Harris (picture on the left) was a 6’3” Center who lead Delta State to three AIAW National Championship in 1975-77. The All-American abd 1976 Olympian went on to become the first female drafted into the NBA. Cardte Hicks (pictured on right) was a 5’9” All-American for Long Beach State. She was drafted into the Women’s Professional Basketball League where her coach instructed her to dunk in warm-ups. Charlotte Lewis (pictured lower right) was a 6”2”center for Illinois State. The two-time All-American still holds a Illinois record of 22 rebounds in a game. Lewis went on to play for the Iowa Cornets of the WBL and won silver with the US Olympic team in 1976. Lewis along with Olympic teammates Lucy Harris and Nancy Dunkle would often dunk in practice and pregame warm-ups. Nancy Dunkle was a 6’2” center for California State Fullerton where she set every school record for scoring and rebounding. The three-time Kodak All-American was the second leading scorer for the 1976 Olympic team. Cheryl Miller Cheryl Miller played at Riverside Polytechnic High School from 1978-1982. She averaged 37 points and 15 rebounds a game and was the first male or female to be named a Parade All-American four times. In 1982, she scored 105 points against Notre Vista High School in a 179-15 Riverside victory. Midway through the game, she threw down a one-handed dunk, the first ever in a high school game. There were over 500 people in attendance that witnessed the feat and countless others who watched the game, which was televised in California. The dunk made history and Cheryl’s 105 points was a high school record until 2006 when Epiphanny Prince broke it by scoring113 points. Miller went on to become a four-time All American at the University of Southern California where she scored 3,018 points and grabbed 1,534 rebounds. Both are still top 5 NCAA records. She led the Trojans to back-to-back national championships in 1983 and 1984. In 1984 she helped lead the USA to gold in the Olypmics. In 1993 Miller was hired as the head coach for USC and later coached the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. Miller is now a television commentator for the NBA. She is the older sister of NBA player Reggie Miller. Georgeann Wells Georgeann Wells was a 6’7” All-American center for the University of West Virginia. On December 21st, 1984 Wells became the first woman to dunk in college during a game against the University of Charleston. The play came with 11 minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the game. Wells caught a long inbounds pass and with a wide-open court in front of her, went up for a strong one-handed slam. The West Virginia bench went wild, and the team received a technical for their excited behavior. Wells was a sophomore when the historic dunk took place. She got another one the next year in a game against Xavier. The real story begins several years earlier. With the encouragement of her father, Wells first began her attempts at dunking in high school. Her father told her she to dunk hard and act like she wanted to break the rim. Wells never recorded a dunk in a high school game, but did make several in practice. She became one of the most dominating players in high school and led Columbus Northland to a state championship. Wells was heavily recruited and ultimately decided on West Virginia. Head coach Kittie Blakemore saw Wells dunking ability as an opportunity to help the Mountaineers with recruiting. Each day in practice she had Wells work on the dunk and the team regularly practiced a fast break play to get Wells open for the dunk. Wells first opportunity to dunk came her freshman year. She got the ball on a fast break and threw down the dunk. Her teammates rushed the floor and jumped on top of her. When the melee was broken up, the officials had waved off the goal, calling a foul on Wells teammate prior to the dunk. The official dunk that made the NCAA record books came a season later. In her college career, Wells scored 1,484 points and pulled down 1,075 rebounds. Her 436 blocked shots is the all-time WVU record. Wells went on to enjoy an 8-year pro career in Europe and Japan. Now she lives in Ohio with her husband and their two children. Georgeann’s daughter Madison is becoming a talented basketball player and has already begun working on her dunk. Charlotte Smith After Georgeanne Wells, it would be 10 years before another dunk would happen. By 1994 the race was on to see who would be the second college player to throw down. Lisa Leslie tried 4 times to dunk for USC, but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the University of North Carolina had two players who could dunk: Charlotte Smith and Sylvia Crawley. For over a year the two had been dunking in pregame warm-ups. Crawley, a 6’4” center, had attempted to dunk in two separate games, but failed to pull off the feat. The high-flying act became so popular fans would get to the games early to see the duo slam. UNC Coach Sylvia Hatchell repeatedly told the media the players had the green light to dunk if the opportunity arose. Finally on December 4th, Smith got her chance against North Carolina A&T. With 17 seconds in a game, she intercepted a pass and broke away for an uncontested right-handed dunk. "The pass was just there, and the whole time I was going out, I was focusing on dunking," Smith told reporters after the game. “It felt really great.” Later that year, Smith became most famous for sinking a 3-point buzzer beater to win the national championship. With .7 seconds on the clock the Tarheels were down by two points to Louisiana Tech, until Sylvia Hatchell called Charotte’s number to take the game winning shot. Smith was named MVP of the Final Four and received numerous accolades including All-American. Smith went on to have a successful pro career in the American Basketball League and the WNBA. Currently she is an assistant coach at her alma mater. Sylvia Crawley The history of the women’s dunk has a twist of fate; Sylvia Crawley is the cousin of Georgeann Wells. With that in mind, many people predicted the 6’5” center for UNC would dunk in college, but it never happened. She had dozens of dunks in practice and pre-game warm ups, yet both of her attempts in games were foiled. Crawley’s first chance was against Robert Morris, but she was fouled on the way up to the basket. The next time, against Marshall, Crawley had a wide-open break away, but lost control of the ball in the air. However, her day in history would not be denied. Three years after winning a national championship with North Carolina, Crawley was playing professionally for the Colorado Explosion of the American Basketball League. The league hosted a slam-dunk contest as part of the All-Star game festivities. Crawley, along with Kara Wolters, Katryna Gaither, Sheila Frost and Linda Godby were the five contestants. In the finals, Wolters (the tallest player in the ABL at 6’ 7”) and the 6’ 6” Godby made a pair of dunks, but both needed two attempts. Crawley succeeded on her first try, performing a spread-eagle slam for a score of 47.5. To win it all she went to a trick dunk she had been practicing for two weeks. The crowd watched in anticipation as Sylvia marched off 10 paces then pulled out a blindfold. She covered her eyes, saluted the crowd, and took off. Her timing was perfect; she ran 10 strides, elevated high above the rim and slammed it home with authority! The 4,000 fans went wild and the judges gave the blindfolded effort a perfect 50! Crawley took home a $5,000 dollar bonus for winning the contest. Even better, the photo was made into a poster, forever securing her place in women’s basketball history as the most entertaining dunk. Crawley played professionally in the ABL, WNBA & Europe for 12 years. In 2000, she joined the coaching ranks. The slam-dunk champion is now the head coach at Boston College. Crawley is also proving to be quite a businesswoman. She designs clothing and launched Monarch magazine which showcases black entrepreneurs. Michelle Snow Michelle Snow was a highly recruited player from Florida who led Pensacola High School to a State Championship. The high School All-American was a 6’5” with a 7’11” reach. She began working on the dunk in high school, and was first inspired to attempt dunking while attending North Carolina’s basketball camp. For years Sylvia Hatchell has held informal slam-dunk competitions at her camps. Charlotte Smith, one of the camp counselors, chided Snow because she was 6’4” and couldn’t dunk. Snow took the challenge personally! A few summers later, Snow was by far the best dunker in camp. Throughout high school Snow would dunk in practice and warm-ups. An official game dunk never happened in a high school, but that didn’t stop her from practicing. Snow’s dunking ability became so renowned, she questioned coaches about it during the recruiting process. The lanky center made sure to ask college coaches if they would give her the green light to dunk in games. Ultimately Pat Summit and the Tennessee Vols won the recruiting battle. Once in Knoxville, the dunk was a regular part of practice for Snow. Her freshman year she had an opportunity to dunk against Texas Tech, but didn’t pull it off. Her sophomore season she got another chance. On November 25, 2000 in a game against Illinois, Snow stole the ball at the high post and went down court for an emphatic two-handed dunk. Her teammates went wild! It was the first dunk in a women's college game since 1994 and only the fourth in NCAA history. Michelle didn’t stop there… She sank two more dunks in her college career becoming the first woman to dunk three times in college. The second came on January 23rd, 2001 at Vanderbilt and the third came on January 17th, 2002 at South Carolina. Snow continued her above the rim action into her pro career. In the 2006 she became the first woman to dunk in a WNBA All-Star Game. She also has dunked in a EuroLeague game. Snow currently plays for the Atlanta Dream. Candace Parker To date, Candace Parker is the most historic dunker in the women’s game. Most people don’t realize that Candace actually dunked in a game BEFORE Lisa Leslie. As a sophomore at Napierville Central High School , Parker became the second girl to dunk in a high school game on December 27th, 2001 in a game against Rockton Hononegah. The Chicago native recorded to scholastic dunks that year. Leslie didn’t get her first dunk until the summer of 2002! At 6’4” Parker also made dunking history when she entered the McDonald’s All-American Slam Dunk Contest and won it beating out five male opponents! The televised event was the beginning of her becoming a basketball icon. On March 19, 2005 as a freshman at Tennessee, Parker’s first college dunk(s) were another milestone. In a post season game against Army she become the first to dunk in the NCAA tournament and the first to dunk twice in a game. Six minutes into the game Candace broke away to the basket and put down a one-handed dunk with a defender right on her back. Later in the second half she drove baseline and rose up over a defender and slammed the ball with authority. The dunkfest made ESPN’s top 10 Plays. On November 24th, 2006 Candace recorded an unprecedented fourth college dunk in a game against Stanford. The AP reported the dunk as follows: "(Parker) got a steal near midcourt and ran toward the other side at the wide open basket. She raised the ball in her right hand and dunked it with 10:55 remaining in the first half." A month later on December 20th, Candace threw down her fifth dunk in a game against West Virginia. She spiced it up by getting called for a technical for holding out the name on her jersey after the play. Parker went on to dunk seven times in her career at Tennessee. It’s NCAA record that still stands. She is just the fourth woman to dunk in the college game. Parker went on to lead Tennessee to three national championships. She was honored with every major award in basketball and is widely recognized as one of the best players in the history of the women’s game. Her history though does not stop there. In 2006 Parker was the first round pick in the WNBA draft to the Los Angeles Sparks. That in itself was historic; she was the first to leave college early to enter the draft. Just 12 games into the season Parker added to her already legendary status. On June 23rd, 2008, in the final minute against the Indiana Fever, Parker got lose on a wide open fast break and threw down a wide open fast break and slammed a crowd pleasing one handed jam. Two days later she threw down a second dunk in a game against the Seattle Storm making her the first to dunk twice in the WNBA. Summer found her helping lead the US to Gold in the Bejing Olympics. Parker - already a household name -, has a long pro career ahead of her and possibly many more dunks. She and husband Sheldon Williams live in LA with their daughter Lailaa. Her brother Anthony plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sylvia Fowles Sylvia Fowles is a 6’5” center from Miami where she won three state championships. During her freshman year at Edison High School she had a playoff game to remember. On February 15th, 2001 Fowles had not one, but TWO dunks in the game becoming the first girl to dunk twice in one high school game. Fowles had a total of five dunks in high school. Sylvia went on to play college ball at LSU. Fowles would regularly dunk in practice and warm-ups. Her teammates nick-named her “Big Syl” because she was the first player they had seen who could drop step and dunk. She didn’t need a breakaway or running take off to put one down. Her teammates would have to wait until her junior year before they saw it in a college game. Finally on November 21st, 2007 with 9:29 to play in the first half against Louisiana-Lafayette, Fowles tipped the ball for a steal and raced down court for a strong one handed jam becoming the 6th woman to dunk in NCAA history. “When I saw that I had the steal, I saw someone coming up behind me and I knew I had to get my feet right then. I stutter stepped went up and it just happened,” Fowles told reporters about her historic moment. “It felt good to hear the crowd go wild, but it felt especially good to hear my teammates.” Fowles, who did not play organized basketball until eighth grade, has continued to have an amazing career. She lead LSU to the final four three years in a row, was part of the US Olympic team that won gold in Beijing. She now plays professionally for the Chicago Sky. In her pro career Fowles has continued to showcase her dunking capabilities for the fans. At the 2009 WNBA All-Star Game and the 2009 Euro League All-Star Game “Big Syl” has thrown down impressive dunks. Lisa Leslie Lisa Leslie has had one of the most celebrated basketball careers in women’s basketball. Her stardom started in high school where she scored 101 points in a game for Morningside High School. She might have score more points, but the opposing team quit the game at halftime! The 6’5” California native had a spectacular college career at the University of Southern California. There she led the Spartans to 2 Pac-10 Championships and four NCAA tournament appearances from 1990-94. She still ranks as one of the best in Pac 10 history with 2,414 points and 1,214 rebounds in her career. She was also a fixture on the US Olympic team competing in four Olympics - all gold medal performances. After the 1996 Olympics, women’s basketball gained tremendous popularity in the United States helping launch the WNBA in 1997. Leslie signed on as one of the founding players of the league and appeared in many commercials to help promote the launch. Over the years Leslie had dunked in many practices for USA Basketball and now as a member of LA Sparks, the dunk was seen as a way to help promote the young league. Leslie began putting extra effort into getting better in practice and finally in year five of the league she got the opportunity to make it happen! On June 30th, 2002 the Associated Press reported it like this: Lisa Leslie became the first woman to dunk in a professional game Tuesday night, jamming on a breakaway in the first half of the Los Angeles Sparks' 82-73 loss to the Miami Sol. The 6-foot-5 center received an outlet pass from Latasha Byears, took two dribbles and dunked with one hand with 4:44 remaining before halftime. She smiled broadly and spread her arms wide as she raced back down the court. Leslie also recorded the second dunk in WNBA history by throwing down a one hander in the 2005 WNBA All-Star Game. This year at 36, Leslie retired from the WNBA after 12 history making seasons. She hangs ‘em up as the only player in league history to score at least 6,000 points and record 3,000 rebounds. She was a three time league MVP and a two time Defensive player of the Year. In 2001 and 2002, she led the Sparks to the WNBA Championship. Leslie lives in California with her husband Michael Lockwood and their daughter Lauren. Amber Harris From early on the 6’6” Indianapolis native Amber Harris has been working on the dunk. Harris is said to have completed her first dunk as an eighth grader. There is no “official” stat book to confirm the report; there is proof that she threw down four times during her career at North Central High School. Her first “official” dunk came her sophomore year in the Indiana State Semifinal vs Mooresville High School on February 28, 2003. Feb 28, 2003 vs Mooresville Dec 27, 2003 vs Chatard Feb 27, 2004 vs Mooresville Feb 4, 2005 vs Terre Haute North Miss Indiana Basketball helped lead North Central High School to back-to-back state championships in 2004 & 2005. She was one of the top recruits in the class of 2005 and now plays for Xavier. She has yet to dunk in a game for the Musketeers, but the school has confirmed that she dunks in practice. Sancho Lyttle Sancho Lyttle did not start playing organized basketball until her senior year of high school. She grew up in the West Indies where she played a game called “netball”. Similar to basketball, netball is played with seven players on a team who are restricted to certain zones on the court and shoot a soccer-like ball at a 10 foot basket. Fortunately, Lyttle’s 6’6” height and her natural athletic ability was enough to get her onto a roster at Clarendon Junior College in Clarendon, TX. Two years later she received a scholarship to play for the University of Houston. On November 21st, 2003 in her debut as a Cougar, Sancho shocked everyone when she dunked in the first half of the game against Gonzaga. The dunk received almost no coverage by the press, but she goes into the record books as the fourth woman to dunk in the NCAA. Her senior year at Houston, she lead the nation in rebounds and averaged 18 points a game. Her skills were so good, she was a first round pick in the WNBA draft to the Houston Comets. Lyttle has yet to dunk in a pro game, but is making her mark in the WNBA with the Atlanta Dream. This year for the first time she was named a WNBA All-Star. Christ the King High School It seems if you attend Christ the King Highs School in New York City, then dunking is a birthright! In addition to sending dozens of girls onto the college ranks and guiding CKHS to many state championships, Head coach Bob Mackey has witnessed four of his players dunk the basketball! The first being none other than the great Chamique Holdsclaw! Mackey recalls the events back in December of 1993 in a game against national powerhouse Palos Verdes. Because the game was on the road in California, the feat received little to no press. Coach Mackey says she barely got the ball over the rim but grabbed the rim on the way down. Her teammates and the fans went crazy, the refs had to call a time out to get the game back in order. Mique went on to win three national championships at Tennessee; two gold medals, and now plays for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. Careem Gay was the next to go above the rim for the Royals. Her feat happened on January 16th, 2005 against Red Bank Catholic. Gay went on to be a standout player for the Duke Blue Devils. Tina Charles had two official dunks in her high school career. The first coming her junior year against Redbank High School. Even better, this top player in the country ended her high school career with a dunk. With 12 seconds on the clock in the state championship game against archrival Murray Bergtraum, Charles got a steal and dunked the ball with a stylish one handed jam as the clock expired. The feat was televised in the New York. Tina is now a UConn Huskies where she was named an All-American and helped lead the team to the 2009 National Championship. Charles and Maya Moore have on several occasions dunked for UConn fans during midnight madness events. Lorin Dixon is the latest CKHS graduate to dunk the ball. Her feat came in a blow out game on February 18th, 2007 against Holy Spirit High School. Dixon stole the ball and while running the length of the court she asked Mackey if she could attempt a dunk. He gave her the nod. Dixon went up for the impressive one-handed dunk. It’s a little hard to believe since Dixon is only 5’5”, but it’s recorded in the books. We can’t doubt coach Mackey. Dixon is now a junior at the University of Connecticut. Brittney Griner For the last 14 pages we have been spelling out the history of the dunk in the women’s game. We wanted you to have a clear picture of the history of the dunk because we believe the future of the dunk is happening right now. The future is Brittney Griner! Baylor freshman Brittney Griner is the most talked about and exciting player in the game since Candace Parker. The Houston native dunked a phenomenal 52 times in high school! Women’s basketball has never seen a player with the combination of size and athleticism that Griner possesses. At 6’8” her body is lean and ripped. With her jumping ability she can easily reach two feet above the rim. This allows her to dunk from further away with more glide and height than previously seen in the game. Just four games into Griner’s college career, she became the seventh woman to dunk in NCAA history. On November 24th, 2009, against Jacksonville State, the 6’8” center received a lob pass in the paint, turned around and dunked it with authority. Griner had attempted to dunk in two of the three previous games, but failed to convert. Once this young talent gets more confidence and a sure sense of her footwork, the dunk will be as much a part of her game as it is for Amare Stoudemire. When Baylor opened the season against Tennessee, Pat Summitt did something she hadn’t done in 32 years of coaching - Play a 2-3 zone! More threatening than the dunk, is her ability to shot block. Griner has an 86 inch wing span, ad to that a 18-24 inch vertical and it’s pretty hard for anyone to get a shot off if Brittney is anywhere in the same zip code. Just know this - The game will be elevated by Griner, and a whole generation of young ladies will be inspired to attempt to take their game above the rim. Long live the dunk in the women’s game! Have a wellrounded game Become the best basketball player you can be. Not the best shooter or the best passer or the best rebounder or the best defender or the best athlete. A basketball player has skills and knows how to use them. The game is mental as well as physical. Note that the word “skills” is plural. A basketball player is not one-dimensional. Work on all aspects of the game and WORK HARD! Working hard includes basketball drills without the ball. Get together with other players and work on setting screens, reading and cutting off screens. Work on agility and balance. Work on blocking out. Work on taking a charge (if you want a coach’s eyes to light up, take a charge). Work on defensive slides. Work on cutting to get open. If you are a post player, work on perimeter skills. If you are a perimeter player, work on posting up. No matter what position you play, work on your hands. Catching the basketball is a skill that comes naturally to some, but requires lots of work for others. Eye hand coordination is required as a fundamental technique. Hit the Weights There are two rooms you must constantly visit, the weight room and the classroom. Without strength, you will not be able to execute to your fullest. Remember that when you enter college you will compete daily in workouts and practice against players who are way ahead of you in physical maturity. When evaluating, coaches will look closely at the strength factor, where you are and where you can be with a strong weight program. Weight training will show on your body and in your game. And lack thereof will be a huge negative factor. A coach will appreciate the fact that you are already in the weight room. Hit the Books Working hard with out the ball also includes hitting the books. Be the best student you can be as well as the best basketball player and you are then a much better prospect for college and life. Without grades you will not qualify to play or be in a position to gain an academic scholarship at a school that does not offer athletic scholarships. Metal Toughness Become mentally tough by disregarding tiny problems and adverse conditions. Ignore the negatives and focus on the positives. Show your determination to succeed rather than negative reaction to mistakes. Mistakes are common. Superstars make mistakes in every game. Maintain your poise. Don’t hang your head, above all, don’t be critical of teammates or coaches. Play Play Play Participate in as many events as you can when not participating with your high school team. Organizations run events dedicated to exposure and they are scheduled when college coaches can attend and evaluate. Please note that the NCAA continues to make changes in the dates these sanctioned events can take place. They are important to you, offering you an opportunity to showcase skills that you may not be able to demonstrate in a high school game (and possibly AAU) plus you’ll compete against other talented players who are there for the same reason you are. If you’re an undersized post player who needs to move to the perimeter for the college game, and you feel you can demonstrate some skills on the perimeter, make sure you play on the perimeter. It’s important that you play as much as possible against good competition so continue to participate in events even if college coaches are not present. It’s all about you becoming a better player. Playing Without the Ball Don’t worry so much about scoring. Pay attention to all aspects of the game. Run the floor. Dive on the floor. Be a relentless rebounder. Set good screens. Make good passes. Acknowledge your teammates. Use the high-five. And, above all, play some serious defense. You may not get enough touches to score a lot, but every time down the floor you have an opportunity to demonstrate your willingness and skills to defend. Defense is as much about effort as it is about skills. So get after it. Make it your goal to stop the player you are guarding and rotate and help on others. Coaches will notice. Be aggressive. Playing hard will separate you from players who don’t scrap for rebounds, don’t help on defense, don’t communicate, and don’t care if they win or lose. You’re participating to gain the attention of college coaches. It’s always obvious who plays the hardest on the floor. Make sure it’s you. At events with ongoing games, use the so-called down time as your time to show off. Get off to the side and do some slides with 100% effort. Handle the ball, with both hands. Demonstrate your crossover and spin moves. You’re on stage off the court as well as on. Evaluators are roaming the entire area and, if they are interested in you already, their eyes will be watching. When you do get on the floor and have a few minutes of warm-up time, use that time wisely. Don’t get caught up in socializing. Focus on basketball. Your work ethic is under scrutiny. Look like a player. Act like a player. Playing in front of college coaches can be trying. You obviously want to perform well. If you play as hard as you can, some of the pressure you may feel will be alleviated by sheer effort. And that effort will not go unnoticed. In :02 “I’m John Henson, I’m going to be a freshman at North Carolina next year…. Out : 56 “…. That’s pretty amazing Transition In 3:41 “ When is the first time you saw me play… Out 4:07 “…Oh yeah Definitely!” Transition In 4:20 “Are you going to have ridiculous dunking skills like me?...” Out 4:33 “OK” Transition In 4:55 “have you ever seen anyone better or as good as me? Out 5:05 “… so we are the same (laughing)” transition In 1:00 “You got any pregame rituals or superstitions….” Out 1:54: “… that was too funny, I remember that” Transition In 2:25 “Last one… You love the game of basketball because… Out 2:39 “…signing off, John Henson with sister!” B-Roll of Pick Up Game MOV 9161 :05 John scores jump shot :33 Amber scores on underhanded lay up :48 John Misses jumpshot 1:00 Amber misses reverse 1:15 John gets reverse 1:22 John Hits jumpshot MOV 9163 :05 Amber misses Jumper :15 Amber misses jumper MOV 9164 :05 Amber around the back then layup MOV 9165 :14 John Finger roll over Amber :25 Amber misses jumper MOV 9169 :10 Amber Scores MOV 9175 Amber hits 3 pointer then claps MOV 9176 :05 Amber Studder step then underhanded layup… John says “watch this” then gets physical on the drive and dunks on Amber! MOV 9177 :05 John Blocks Amber’s shot MOV 9178 “I don’t think you want this” Amber misses a shot… real close to camera… John comes back and dunks on her MOV 9179 :05 Amber scores on runner… nice! :14 Amber shoots three pointer..nbn! Says you want more? Then hits another! MOV 9180 What do we have going on her… Amber “a little one on one, I’m embarrassing him a little… John “ all I have to say is look at the tape!” Tucked in between the Columbia River and the foothills of the Kettle Mountain Range is the small town of Inchelium, Washington. It’s a beautiful setting about three hours north of Spokane with rolling hills and billowy fir trees. Less than 600 people live in this small community on the east side of the 5,480-acre Colville Reservation. There are two stop signs, a small grocery store, and a school with about 100 students. This is where Chenise Pakootas grew up. We met Chenise this summer at the Nike Nationals in Augusta, Georgia. She plays basketball for the Spokane Stars, a strong AAU program that has sent dozens of girls to the college ranks including standouts: Kate Starbird, Briann January and Angie Bjorklund. Chenise is a 5’10” guard with lots of heart and hustle. She sprints the floor to get back on defense, dives out of bounds for lose balls, and has a nice mid-range jumper. Stars coach Ron Adams likes her speed and quickness and says she has definite division one potential. Chenise isn’t a highly ranked player on the scouting reports, but her story and the story of her family is one that should be told. It is a story about a family determined to succeed in the face of adversity. This family has led by example and opted to break the “cycle of abuse” that too often is a way of life on the reservation. It stars with Chenise’s parents, Joe and Cheryl. Both grew up on the reservation and were multi-sport athletes for Inchelium High School. Joe played football, basketball, and baseball and competed in rodeo. Cheryl was a talented basketball and volleyball player. Joe describes his upbringing as “typical” of many on the reservation. His home life was dysfunctional with both parents abusing drugs and alcohol. At the age of seven Joe and his siblings were placed in foster homes. If it weren’t for sports, Joe says he would not have graduated from high school. We like to think he stayed in class because of Cheryl. The two dated all through high school and not long after graduation the sweethearts were married. Joe was offered a football scholarship, but turned it down to marry Cheryl and start a family of his own. The young couple went on to have four children and early on vowed to raise their own family differently. “There is no alcohol or drugs in our house; we don’t allow that, even from visitors,” states Joe emphatically. For over 20 years Joe has served as a Colville Tribal Leader. He has seen first hand the effects of poverty, substance abuse and physical abuse in the community. On the reservation nearly 80% of adolescents experiment with drugs and alcohol. Many homes are broken due to violence and the stresses of poverty. The dropout rate is 35% and only 9% attend college. Given the statistics, few are in a position to succeed. “You see first hand a lot of drug abuse and alcohol abuse. You see alcoholism in 10-11-12 year olds,” attests Joe. “As a leader of a tribe you want to try and remedy and correct that.” Given their athletic backgrounds, Joe and Cheryl saw sports as a way to have a positive impact on the community. The two voluntarily started a basketball program open to everyone on the reservation. Every Sunday afternoon for three hours, they organized basketball practice at Inchelium High School. It wasn’t open gym with non-stop pick-up-games; it was drills and ball handling and footwork. The goal was to improve the level of play. Each week several dozen kids would show up and for many it was their highlight of the week. With their involvement in the community, Joe and Cheryl became aware of many troubling situations. Kids often needed a place to escape the dysfunction in their home life, so the two started an open door policy. The Pakootas home became known as a safe haven where everyone was welcome, but drugs and alcohol were not. “We hope if kids don’t see us doing it, then hopefully they are not going to do it,” says Joe about their strict rules. “They see it in other areas on the reservation and in other communities. If they don’t see it within our family, we are hoping that we will break that chain, because it’s a way of life on the reservation.” The basketball practice soon branched into a girls AAU program named the “REZ Girls”. “We were looking at building fundamentals for kids of that age group so by the time they got to high school they would have a head start,” says Cheryl who was one of the coaches. At the time, Chenise was just a second grader. As the youngest one in the bunch, she thoroughly enjoyed playing against the older kids, including her sisters Chrystal and Chelsi. “I learned so much,” recalls Chenise. “All the girls were three or four years ahead of me, so I was learning as they were learning. I got a very big head start.” Families in the community pulled together enough money to buy the team uniforms and shoes. They held fundraisers so the team would be able to attend one or two AAU tournaments a month. It gave the dozen girls and their families an outlet and a way to come together to support each other. After several summers, the off-season workouts began to pay off. The Inchelium High School girls basketball team began winning games. By the time Chenise was a freshman, the Hornets were one of the best teams in the region making the state tournament two years in a row. “When that group hit high school it was the first time our high school girls had gone\to state in 27 years, “ recalled Cheryl with a huge look of accomplishment on her face. The team became so popular the varsity girls actually played after the boys team because they were drawing the largest crowd. When the girls had games on the road, Inchelium was a ghost town. “It gave a lot of girls hope,” says Cheryl. “It provided a lot of hope for the community to have something to look forward to, have a purpose, and become a part of something great.” Two years ago, Chenise and her parents moved to the Spokane area so Joe could pursue his college education. The “Rez Girls” program came to an end after 8 successful seasons. However, the impact of the team is still being felt. This family decided to take a stand against the status quo. They proved that life on the reservation could be different. They helped ensure that several dozen athletes graduated from school. They deterred many more from starting a life of addiction and respectively launched these young people on a path toward success. Chenise is one of the recipients of her parents belief system. For her, the cycle has already been broken. “They taught me responsibility, that I have to be accountable for my own actions,” she says. Chenise is currently a senior at Mead High School with a 3.65 GPA and is in great position to receive a basketball scholarship. She will follow in the footsteps of her brother and two sisters who all graduated from high school and went on to further their education. Joe and Cheryl plan to return to the reservation in the near future. They want to continue bringing hope to the Colville people. “I hope that I’m a role model not only in life or education or sports,” says Joe, “but it’s important to me to break the chains of alcoholism and dysfunction on our reservations.” Joe and Cheryl, you are a role model of SUCCESS! There are now six national championship banners hanging on the east side of Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies unveiled their latest acquisition on opening night of the 2009-2010 season with 8,300 adoring fans cheering wildly! If all goes as expected, UConn fans will be back here next November cheering for banner number seven. The Huskies started the season with a 39 game win streak, and have returned four of the five starters from last year’s championship team including National Player of the Year Maya Moore and All-American Tina Charles. It’s no secret the Huskies are expected to run the table again. Geno and company were the unanimous number one pick in both the USA Today and Associated Press pre-season polls. Here’s a little foreshadowing. Previously the Huskies have started the season ranked number one six times. Four of the six times they finished the season with a national championship; all six times they made it to the final four. Last season the Huskies beat teams by an average of 30 points per game, even in the final four, the best of the best weren’t even close. UConn handled Stanford by 19 points and defeated Louisville in the national championship game by 22. No disrespect to Connecticut, but the final four was a bit of a yawn because everyone knew what was coming. When I asked Maya Moore who UConn gets amped up for, she didn’t have a definitive answer. There is no team or individual player that she called out. There isn’t a bitter loss that is fresh in her mind or one player who has given her sleepless nights. The truth is this team hasn’t had much competition! Moore has only lost twice in her career: once to Rutgers and once to Stanford in the 2008 Final Four, and that was two seasons ago! Kudos’ to Geno for assembling a program that is so good; they blow the competition away. This is the team that has given everyone else sleepless nights. The standard has been set very high and now it’s up to the rest of women’s basketball to become equal or greater. The option of being less than UConn isn’t what women’s basketball needs or wants to see! Every team in the country knows if they want to win a national championship, they will have to defeat the Huskies. So I say please give Maya Moore something challenging to think about! In her own polite respectful way she is practically begging for it! “Having a target on our back, I think, is something that we embrace,” says Moore. “Any time you can play and compete against some hardworking and talented players it’s always fun cause you get more sense of accomplishment by competing against them. Tina Charles knows everyone will be gunning for them. She likens their games to “the circus coming to town.” The circus is coming to town on January 16th! ESPN will debut a women’s basketball version of College Game Day from Gampel Pavilion when Connecticut hosts fifth ranked Notre Dame. The conference match up is one of the highlights on the Huskies schedule. Moore didn’t want to give it too much credit, but admits it definitely has the makings of a rivalry. “It’s kind of a time of change with us playing Notre Dame twice,” says Moore, hinting that it might be the marquee match up to get her competitive juices flowing. “They are setting it up for us to be rivals with them, but all of the Big East games are rivalry- like games and will be fun again this year.” The top ranked Huskies have one of the toughest out of conference schedules in the country with games against six ranked teams. At home they will host No. 2 Stanford and 4th ranked North Carolina. The Huskies will also go to hostile territory to play top 25 opponents: Texas, Florida State, Duke, and Oklahoma. Every one of them believe they have a chance to upset the Huskies. “It makes us work that much harder to know that everybody is going to be coming at us with their “A” game,” says Maya. “It’s the big stage and if you’re a big time player or big time team, you’re going to love that.” One Play at a Time Right now every team in the country is trying to figure out how to beat Connecticut; they’re lying if they say their not. Meanwhile, Geno is focused on keeping his house in order. He’s instilled in his players a sense of individual responsibility for every part of the game. He preaches every possession counts and approach each game with the same level of intensity no matter how big or small the opponent. He wants his players to get better every day! ‘We are not thinking down the road; cause if we are, we are liable to slip up along the way,” says the Hall of Fame coach. “When I say we are just trying to get better in tomorrow’s practice or the next game, we live that. We don’t just say it. We actually go to practice and pick apart everything we do. We break it down and we are showing them this is where we are not good and this is where we’re getting better.” Ask Tina Charles. Auriemma continues to call her “one of the worst rebounders in the country” despite the fact she’s grabbed over 1000 boards and is just 200 shy of becoming the best rebounder in UConn history. Here’s the beauty of it: Auriemma has the team so focused on the details that it keeps the attention off their opponents! Here’s the idea: No one can beat Connecticut; they can only beat themselves.. Each game is made up of many small battles. In order to win the war you have to win the next rebound, get the next defensive stop, and score on the next possession. Even Maya Moore, the best player in the country, isn’t immune to his criticism. “I definitely hear from him,” laughs Moore “If I feel like I’m doing something right, he’ll find something for me to improve on or something to challenge me with. And I thank him for it because there are still many aspects of my game that I can improve.” “He’s great because he strives for perfection and doesn’t let you get away with anything knowing that you aren’t going to get it right 100% of the time. He’s going to push you and that is what makes him special and what makes our team special.” This team is unique and they are in the position to become one of the best in the history of women’s basketball. Geno knows if all else fails, they have one thing going for them: experience! “They’ve been in those situations before. They’ve been in big games where they had to compete and win and they’ve won. They have a self-confidence that we know we can do it.” “There’s only one team that knows how to win a national championship that’s playing right now and that is us!”