Vandersloot is living the dream

Published 12:01 am Sunday, September 11, 2011

It started down the road as a little girl with a dream.

Courtney Vandersloot realized that dream of making it to the WNBA and tonight she will make her first professional appearance in Seattle. The girl who grew up idolizing Storm point guard Sue Bird will go one-on-one against her in tonight’s regular season finale.

“It’s going to be nice,” Vandersloot said. “I know a lot of people are going to be there.”

Vandersloot has a broad fan-base from all over the state of Washington. In high school, she starred at Kentwood and she followed that up by attending Gonzaga University, where she put the Bulldogs on the map as a national power in women’s college basketball.

In the process, Vandersloot became the only player in men’s or women’s Division 1 history to score 2000 points and dish 1,000 assists.

Just in the past seven months, Vandersloot led the Bulldogs to a WCC championship, an appearance in the Elite Eight, became the third overall selection in the WNBA draft, earned a spot on Team USA and was named to her first WNBA all-star team as a rookie.

“It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s all been exciting,” Vandersloot said. “It’s been a special year for me and my family.”

Keith Hennig coached Vandersloot for three years at Kentwood High School and had nothing but praise for his former star.

“Courtney is one of those special players because she really was an extension of the coaching staff on the floor,” Hennig said.

From the beginning, Hennig knew Vandersloot was the real deal.

“You knew right away,” Hennig said. “We knew we had something special.”

Hennig said that Vandersloot’s competitiveness and work ethic are two of the most important ingredients that make her the player that she is.

“The combination of those two things, you could see she had greatness written all over her,” Hennig said.

Hennig will be in the crowd tonight to watch Vandersloot and the Sky take on the Storm. Also in the stands will be her college coach at Gonzaga, Kelly Graves.

But Graves isn’t coming alone. Along with him will be the entire Gonzaga women’s team.

Like Hennig, Graves heaped praise on his former leader.

“She was just one of those players who transcended the game,” Graves said. “To a lot of people, she is Gonzaga basketball.”

Graves said that Vandersloot’s continued efforts to improve helped her to the success she had at Gonzaga.

“If you look at her from the time she was a freshman all the way through her senior year, she improved every season,” Graves said. “Every year she added something else to her game. That’s what I love about her. She always works to get better.”

Graves recalled two games at Gonzaga where he saw just how great Vandersloot could be. The first was her first collegiate game, where Graves said Vandersloot came off the bench in a game against the University of Washington and dished 11 assists without committing a turnover in a blowout victory.

But a game against Loyola Marymount stands out even more. The Bulldogs trailed Loyola by 19 points in the first half, but won behind a second-half comeback led by Vandersloot, who finished with 26 points.

“That was the night she became Courtney Vandersloot in my opinion,” Graves said. “Up until that point she was a very good player. After that night I think she realized that she could become a great player.”

But Graves and Hennig agree that it isn’t Vandersloot the player that is her best quality.

“I couldn’t be more proud of her,” Hennig said. “The thing that I am most proud of is that she is a good person.”

“She is most humble,” Graves said. “That’s what I am most proud of is how she conducts herself.”

Vandersloot said the dream of playing in the WNBA was born when she was in grade school.

“She had her sights set on what she wanted to do long before anybody knew that was going to be a possibility,” Hennig said.

And in those early days when Vandersloot began dreaming of playing at the highest level, it was Bird who she looked up to and modeled her game after.

“She is someone I always looked up to not just because of how great of a point guard she is, but how she always knew how to win,” Vandersloot said.

Now as Vandersloot’s rookie season concludes tonight, the teacher is taking notice of the student.

“Courtney’s game, she is almost your prototypical point guard in just the way that she sees the floor and understands the game, gets her teammates in the right spots, gets the ball to them in the right spots,” Bird said. “That’s something I think people really take for granted and they don’t really appreciate. And when you have it you understand it. I think for her, she is going to make any team better without even taking a shot. That’s what makes her a special player.”

Like Vandersloot always is, a humble Bird said it is an honor to have Vandersloot pattern so much of her game after her.

“If anything, it’s humbling,” Bird said. “It’s very nice to hear. I really take it as a compliment. It makes me feel a little bit old. But for the most part it’s a compliment. And you know, I am glad, because there really isn’t that many point guards out there. I joke that we are a dying breed, but it’s nice to see a player have the game that she does. And it’s also such a huge compliment to know that she looked up to me growing up.”

Bird knows from experience that coming home will be special for Vandersloot.

“It’s exciting, I remember my rookie year playing back in New York at the Garden,” Bird said. “I’m sure she is going to have a million ticket requests. I’m sure she is going to be very excited and I’m sure she will just want to have a good time with it. But it is a special moment when you get to come home, so I’m sure she will enjoy it — hopefully not too much though.”

It’s hard to imagine things getting much better than the things Vandersloot has experienced in the last year and what better way to cap it off than coming home.

“She is a beloved player,” Graves said. “It’s got to be a thrill for her. This was her dream and now she gets to do it in front of her family and friends and she gets to go against one of her idols. I think there will be a lot of Storm fans hoping that their team wins, but that Courtney does really well.”

Aaron Lommers covers the Seattle Storm for The Herald. Read his blog at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/storm and follow him on twitter @aaronlommers.