Women's Hoops Guru

By Mel Greenberg

Less than 24-hours removed from her final moments as an active collegian, Rutgers' Essence Carson was on a telephonic call Wednesday afternoon, courtesy of the WNBA, as part of a discussion involving what promises to be one of the best-ever drafts of the pro league when it is held next Wednesday in the outskirts of Tampa, Fla.

Innisbrook Golf Club, the site of the draft, happens to be among the holdings of one Sheila Johnson, the owner of the WNBA's Washington Mystics.

Carson, who along with senior teammate Matee Ajavon, is expected to go high in the selection process, found herself addressing both the immediate future and past due to the short timing between Tuesday's loss to UConn in the Greensboro, N.C., regional final and the WNBA call.

Willingboro's Crystal Langhorne, who was also on the call, had a little more time to collect her thoughts, since her new designation as a former collegian was 48 hours old after Maryland's loss to Stanford in Spokane, Wash., on Monday night. Terrapin teammate Laura Harper,who is also draft-bound, was among the players addressed by several league coaches, as well as broadcast analyst.

The draft itself will be headlined by Tennessee junior Candace Parker, expected to go first overall to Los Angeles. The Chicago native isn't jumping once the Vols' season is done, since she is eligible because she would be a senior this season had she not had knee surgery around the time she arrived in Knoxville as a freshman.

The other part of the marquee picks at the top of the line is LSU's Sylvia Fowles, expected to be taken second by the Chicago Sky.

Ironically, the 1-2 draft punch will be going against each other Sunday night in one of the NCAA national semifinal games in Tampa.

"I think in this situation both players would be No. 1 if they came out in separate drafts," new Chicago coach Steven Key said.

Incidentally, if you think the poor players involved ran into a collegiate-pro overlap, it was even more adventurous for the writers who cover both sports, since the early afternoon phone call with the WNBA was immediately followed by the NCAA's interview session with the coaches of the Final Four teams.

The Guru was in transit during all this so understand all the quotes are off the transcripts, although there's nothing exclusive since the public can find both discussions at the Web sites of both organizations.

Carson, in her opening comments, noted, "To have the chance to play in the WNBA has always been a dream of mine, to take part in something that is growing and to be given such a great opportunity."

Asked to reflect on her immediate past, Carson said, "I believed we stayed consistent throughout the season, especially defensively. As the season progressed, the chemistry increased and everything clicked on all cylinders by the time we reached the tournament. We had a great tournament run and unfortunately it ended up in a loss, but this season was a success and in the face of adversity we continued to rise and fight for each other; we never gave up."

Carson described the immediate aftermath of the loss to Connecticut after Rutgers had bolted to a 14-point lead in the first half.

"The locker room scene was very quiet, we were just taking in the game. It defnitely hurt a lot; it hurts to lose. We came straight back to Jersey,it was a very sad flight and everyone was really hurt by ending our season too quickly."

Carson's coach C. Vivian Stringer, has a bunch of former players in the WNBA, accented most recently by Cappie Pondexter, who was the MVP of last summer's title run by the Phoenix Mercury.

"Every players that has come through her program has learned the game of basketball as a whole," Carson said of Stringer. "She teaches you the game; she breaks it down. She really is a teacher and I think she is one of the best at it.

"Off the court how to maintain yourself as a young woman, especially professionally, she has done that. How to carry yourself, especially when you are a role model and when everyone else in looking at you. She has definitely been my mother figure for four years and I believe she has done a great job of that."

Since the odds of playing together in the WNBA with Ajavon are long, she addressed the moment when the two friends will have to go against each other the first time.

"It will be a weird feeling after playing four years with her," Carson said. "Just thinking back to high school when we played against each other; it was always a tough match-up. She's so quick with the ball and able to get to the rim so quickly; she;s really efficient with that. Playing against her in practice for four years you just know what kind of competitor she is. It is really going to be a tough match-up and it is going to be a weird feeling."

Los Angeles coach Michael Cooper said both Rutgers stars should make an impact. He noted that defense was Carson's "best asset." He predicted Carson and Ajavon would go in the first round.

Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer, who holds the fourth pick, is focusing on Ajavon along with several other guards and predicted both would go in the top eight. "It just shows what a great program they have at Rutgers."

Laimbeer, observing the NCAA tournament to date, noted that most of the projected first round of player picks all played in the elite eight regional finals.

Langhorne and Carson both commented on the impact their collegiate senior class should make on the WNBA.

"I think that with our class we hope the league improves so much," Langhorne said. "I think so many players in our class will really help the league, the depth of the league and the overall quality of play."

Carson agreed, saying, "We've all had a sense of how deep this class is over the past few years and even back in high school. The same question was posed when we were coming into college on how the (high school) `Class of `04' would change the face of women's college basketball. We seemed to live up to what they expected and I believe that we will continue to do so because we are those types of competitors. We love to play, we love the game, we love to win, this is our passion. What more can we ask than to play basketball."

Meanwhile, Temple's Lady Comfort, Pittsburgh's Marcedes Walker (University City), and Coppin State's Shalamar Oakley (Camden Catholic) were among the pre-draft camp invitees announced Wednesday. Virginia's Sharnee Zoll (Highland) and Penn State's Kamela Gissendanner were also listed in the initial group that will be supplemented by other players whose collegiate seasons are just ending.

-- Mel