The Waiting Game
The Waiting Game
By Lindsay Schnell,
These days, ’s hours are spent putting together lesson plans for her student teaching instead of practicing basketball.
’s are still filled with hours of basketball, but it’s not because she’s working on her own game; instead,
But a few weeks ago, Close and
The camp, which took place April 16-18, was a chance for collegiate players to showcase their skills in front of WNBA coaches and agents.
“It was so cool and really fun,” Close said. “It was a great experience to go down there and see if we could compete with those girls.”
“This was the chance of a lifetime,”
At the camp players worked on fundamentals and fitness, then played full court games at the end of the day.
“It was kinda funny, the first day we were there the head guy said, ‘We’re going to see who came to camp in shape!’” Close recalled, laughing. “But we made it.”
Now that camp is over,
“I’m new at this I need to figure it all out,”
“The WNBA has their draft during Final Four weekend and they just have three rounds — that’s it,” said women’s basketball coach . “But there are still several avenues for a player if they want to continue their career.”
“If you look at what Kim did in the season: second in Pac-10 in scoring, top 25 in nation in scoring, three games where she had 31 points she needs to be looked at,” Wagner explained. “Generally post players have a little more stock overseas and to me, Kim’s a perfect fit for overseas.”
To the outsider, getting Close a spot at the
“Mandy’s game doesn’t do her justice in film,” Wagner said. “But once you see her live and see the athleticism and the work ethic and sheer guts and determination, I thought if we could make those contacts in the WNBA we could get her looked at.”
“I would love to go to
“And,” she added with a laugh, “As I’m not living in an alleyway or something.”
“I would like to stay in Europe but I’m open to anything,”
“Mandy and I don’t really know anything else, we’ve always been a student athlete,”
“You really learn how to push yourself and make yourself better when you’re not working out with a team,” Close said. “But we’re both so excited for this opportunity.”
