|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
WNBA Spotlight Sue Wicks, New York Liberty
Posted: Monday June 26, 2000 05:38 PM By Kristen Leigh Porter, CNNSI.com
It's easy to see why the 6' 3" Liberty forward and WNBA veteran has a vested interest in the Knicks -- she's been a part of the Big Apple hoops scene for almost two decades. When Wicks was a teenager at Center Moriches High in New York, she averaged 39 points as a senior and once scored 59. Illinois coach Theresa Grentz, then at Rutgers, was among her many admirers, and faithfully made the trek to Long Island for almost every game. "The other team would be all around her and she'd still score 50 points," Grentz recalls. Grentz didn't have to do much arm-twisting to convince Wicks -- a self described "east coast type of person"-- to join the Scarlet Knights. During her career at Rutgers (1984-1988), Wicks earned All-America honors three times and also won the 1988 Naismith Award as the top collegiate women's player. "She was incredible," Grentz says. "I don't think I yelled at her once in four years,"
Being a role player was a new experience for Wicks, but she adjusted quickly and became a crowd favorite with her hustle and selflessness. After averaging just over 13 minutes in her first two seasons, Wicks was thrust into the spotlight in 1999 when teammate Rebecca Lobo went down with an ACL injury that kept her sidelined for almost the entire year. As a starter, Wicks played 30 minutes per game and helped the Liberty reach the WNBA finals. Because of her attachment to New York and its fans -- as well as the fact that she's one of the older players in the league -- talk of Wicks' possible retirement surfaced when the WNBA held its expansion draft in May. Wicks says she feels especially ancient when she looks at teammates such as 20-year-old Jessica Bibby. "They're just babies," says Wicks, who turns 34 in November. "They're talking about the guys from 'N Sync or Britney Spears and I'm like, 'What are you talking about?'"
The bottom line for Wicks is that she can't imagine herself playing in Madison Square Garden as anything other than a member of the Liberty, and would prefer going overseas to being shipped to another WNBA team. "It feels so perfect to me to be in New York," Wicks says. "It would be just too much to give up."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
