My Sportsman Choice: Diana Taurasi

By Kelli Anderson

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Now here's a rare creature: a basketball superstar who plays well with others. Forget, for a moment, Diana Taurasi's on-court grace, skill and joie de vivre that have created women's basketball fans in households where none had existed. Forget about her first two national titles at Connecticut, where she helped what was arguably the greatest team in women's college basketball history to a national championship and then carried a group of callow nobodies to the same outcome a year later. In 2004, she played three different roles on three different teams at three different levels, moving seamlessly among them all, a consummate team player who knew exactly how to fit in, make her club better and win. For that she is my Sportswoman of the Year.

Let's start with that record-tying third consecutive national title, won in the face of enormous expectations, nagging ankle, foot and back injuries, and diminished team domination. After the Huskies lost their -- gasp! -- fourth game, against Boston College in the Big East tournament, doubters (including yours truly) predicted a rare early exit from the NCAA tournament. But Taurasi was her usual confident, competitive self, leading her team in scoring in every tournament game, including the final against Tennessee. After Taurasi accepted her second consecutive Most Outstanding Player award, teammate Ann Strother summed up her collegiate career perfectly: "She has elevated all our games and done so much for this program, for the state of Connecticut, for women's basketball, in general."

OK, that gets us through the first four months of the year. In May, Taurasi joined the WNBA as the No. 1 draft pick. What did she do? She averaged 17 points (fourth-best in the league) 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists. She was named to the all-WNBA first team and so dominated the Rookie of the Year voting that Lindsay Whalen, the first-year player who led the Connecticut Sun to the WNBA finals, didn't get a single vote. (Taurasi also caused enormous bumps in TV ratings whenever she played.) But her teammates will remember her for handing out water cups at practice, being the first to congratulate others coming off the floor and helping the once-floundering Phoenix Mercury improve by nine wins.

As the youngest player on the Olympic team, Taurasi performed the neat trick of being a budding star while deferring, at the appropriate times, to her elders. Before the Olympics, assistant coach Gail Goestenkors spoke of Taurasi's gift, and she wasn't talking about her feathery jump shot or her unparalleled court vision. "She has a great way about her that makes everyone feel comfortable," said Goestenkors. "She has gone about things the right way; she hasn't stepped on anybody's toes. She calls Dawn Staley 'Big D' and calls herself 'Little D.' She fits in perfectly."

Coming off the bench for the gold-medal-winning Americans -- a second-stringer, she said, for the first time since she was a reserve on her second-grade swim team -- Taurasi averaged 8.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 19.3 minutes a game. Otherwise she played the rookie role to a T, fetching muffins for Lisa Leslie and showing up to the game against Spain with two left shoes. Taurasi is, quite simply, a winning personality.

Sports Illustrated will announce the 2004 Sportsman of the Year winner on FOX on November 28. Check back every weekday until then to read more Sportsman picks from SI writers.