Sparks tales, Sun tales

Three days after the draft, the stories are beginning to pour out about the college players selected by various teams. I think of it as an encore - a chance to finish coloring in the picture that is these young women's lives.

Being a big sap at heart, I love this story about Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1522809,6_1_NA12_HYLTON_S1.article

Bits:

At that time, Tony outweighed Lindsay by 50 to 75 pounds. He would use that to his advantage. Lindsay would get frustrated and want to quit, complaining that it wasn't fair.

"I would always tell her, 'Well, you've got to understand that when you get to college you're going to have people who are bigger than me, and they're not going to back off of you just because it seems unfair,'" Tony said.

Frankly, I didn't know much about W-H during college, but this gives me a good idea of what's coming the Sparks' way this summer:

Throughout her entire career, Lindsay has been known for her strong, quiet demeanor. She would often refer to herself as the "Silent Killer" for the many little things she does throughout a game.

Her impact is evident in Purdue's record book. She ended her career as the school's all-time leader in blocked shots and rebounding. She finished third in steals, eighth in scoring and 17th in assists.

Still, she drew some criticism from analysts who thought she should play more selfishly, to take control of games when they thought the Boilermakers needed her the most.

"She stayed true to her own character," Tony said. "She's truly an unselfish player. For her to break records at Purdue is just proof that she has the confidence to be herself in all circumstances."

Love it.

On the other side of the country, there's this about Sun acquisitions Chante Black and Lyndra Littles:

http://www.bristolpress.com/articles/2009/04/11/sports/doc49e158c01ad68114312888.txt

“You dream of this as a child, so to come out and be known to be one of the top (picks) in this group, it is a great recognition,” Black said. “I was 10 or 11 when the WNBA came out, and I always wanted to be like Lisa Leslie. When I arrived at college, you figure out you can hang in there with some of the best players who can go on and play in the WNBA. They are telling me, ‘You should aim for that.’ I said, ‘I am going to go for that.’”

Black overcame a 2006 knee injury to emerge into one of the ACC’s best post players in her final two seasons. Working through adversity is nothing new. She attended three high schools as a freshman because of transportation issues and went through her entire senior season at Duke without seeing her mother, Mazie, who is an English teacher in Saudi Arabia. Mazie was by her daughter’s side when her name was called Thursday.

“Nothing has come easy for me. I just love working hard and become better in different areas,” Black said. “It has not always been easy, just being a single parent’s child, being put on certain teams, you don’t have all those luxuries of playing on every team and developing. I had to learn how to do the little things.”

Awwww.