Skylar Diggins puts her skills and heart into the game

	Though she's only a sophomore, Skylar Diggins is already one of the nation's top players at Washington High in South Bend, Ind. South Bend Tribune

Skylar Diggins grew up in a gym, so it's no wonder that she is rated as one of the nation's premier sophomore basketball players. The 5-foot-9 guard has led Washington (South Bend, Ind.), last year's Class 4A state runner-up, to an 8-1 record by averaging 22 points, 6.0 steals, 5.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from the field. She also has an 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Diggins' stepfather, Maurice Scott, is director of the Martin Luther King Center in South Bend. He also has coached Diggins' summer AAU team and is the JV basketball coach at Washington. Because of unlimited access to the MLK gym, Skylar often plays four or five times a week. Scott put her in a boys league for ages 8-9 when she was seven. "I've always played up and it has helped me a lot," she said.

South Bend Tribune sportswriter Scott Davidson has covered girls basketball for 18 years and he calls Diggins "the most competitive girl I've ever seen. She'll do anything to win, if it means scoring 40 points or getting 15 points and 10 assists. You've got to love a kid who competes every night. She can pass as well as anyone I've seen. She's a complete package -- not only as a player but as a kid."

The young Washington star credits her mother, Renee, with some of her competitive spirit. "I'm going to play until I win," she says.

Diggins' parents encouraged her to participate in everything from gymnastics to soccer to softball -- and modeling briefly -- but basketball won out. During her first year of organized basketball, she scored a basket on her own end. She learned her lesson so well, however, that later she alertly blocked one of her teammate's layups which would have counted two points for the opposition.

Diggins' AAU team, the Soldiers, won Indiana state age-group championships three times and once was the Division II national runnerup. In recent summers, she also has played for The Family, based in Indianapolis, which had a pair of 6-6 players. "AAU is my favorite," she said. "It's the best from all high schools all over the country. I love to play with big kids who can run the floor. And it helps you meet new people."

She was a varsity starter for Washington as a freshman and exploded for 43 points in an 87-65 victory over defending Class 3A state champion St. Joseph's, which had won its previous 25 games. She estimates that 100 family members were in the crowd of 3,500 that night.

Washington coach Marilyn Coddens first saw Diggins play in seventh grade. "She was like a woman among girls," said Coddens. "She could have played on our varsity at that age. She had a perception and was very composed.

"She is so versatile, with an inside and outside game. She is so knowledgeable and unselfish. She sees what needs to be done without being told. She takes criticism well and wants to get better. She is working on getting a stop-and-pop jump shot. Her defense has got to get better, but it is very good -- I'm just never happy."

To the casual observer, the most impressive part of her game is an uncanny ability to drive in traffic, float through the air and score without losing her balance. She has a very soft touch and the ball barely ripples the net. "We play with boys a lot," Diggins says, "so you've got to find ways to get your shot off, not let them block it and still finish."

Diggins' statistics would be a lot more impressive if the Panthers were not winning most games by such large margins that she spends a lot of time on the bench. For example, Coddens had to tell University of Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma not to scout a recent game because she knew it would be a blowout and he wouldn't see much of her that night. "I could let her score 50 points to pad her stats, but I'm not going to do that," Coddens emphasized.

Her only other sport is volleyball, in which she has Division I college potential. Several of her basketball teammates also play volleyball, making their bond even stronger. "It helps with my jumping," Diggins noted. "I can read the eyes (of opponents). That's probably why I get a lot of deflections (in basketball)."

Diggins will be a strong candidate for National Player of the Year before she graduates. "It makes me work harder," she says. "If I'm No. 2, I want to get to No. 1. If I'm No. 1, I want to stay there."

Off the court, Diggins is "a teacher's dream," according to Coddens. She boasts a 3.75 GPA in honors courses. Her favorite subject is math and she would like to be a doctor some day. She has not decided on a college yet, but has visited Tennessee, Duke, Michigan State, Purdue, Wake Forest and hometown Notre Dame.

Diggins works with younger kids during the summer and takes her status as a role model very seriously. "That means a lot," she said. "You always are being watched. You always try to set examples for girls who look up to you by doing good things."

One of those youngsters whom she is influencing is her brother, Maurice Scott, Jr., a second grader who is playing on a fifth grade team this year. Like his older sister, he is left-handed and runs the show at point guard.

Maurice Scott Sr. loves to tell about the day his son and teammates were discussing their favorite players; many named NBA stars such as Kobe Bryant. "He told them his favorite player was Skylar Diggins, his sister," Scott said, "but they didn't believe she was his sister. He came home and he was really upset."

"I always give him a hug and try to keep that connection," says Skylar. "I spend a lot of time with him. We're real tight. He's like a mini-me."