Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Phoenix Targets Spears' Hard Work, Skill
April 11, 2011 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
With her coaches, seven of her teammates, Athletics Director Mike Bohn and a handful of administrators monitoring Monday's 2011 WNBA Draft on a pair of flat screens in the Varsity Room of the Dal Ward Athletics Center, Spears watched and heard her name called in the second round by the Phoenix Mercury.
Spears had heard pre-draft chatter that the San Antonio Silver Stars might take her with the 20th pick in the second round. The Mercury outhustled them, choosing Spears with pick No. 19 and making CU's career scoring leader their only selection of the day. Phoenix didn't have a first-round pick and traded its third-round pick to Connecticut.
When the suspense ended, the room erupted with cheers, hugs and high fives.
"It's so exciting . . . we were here anticipating everything," said guard Chucky Jeffery. "We knew she was going to go. We're just so, so happy for her. She's one of the best players I've ever played with. I know she's going to do good things."
Monday was a day Spears envisioned since her childhood. She called it "a dream come true. I've dreamed about it since I was little, since the WNBA was started. I'm just really excited and looking forward to the opportunity. I still can't believe this . . . it's amazing. I figured if I worked hard enough I would get there."
"Working hard enough" has been second nature for Spears. During her time at CU, personnel at the Coors Events Center became accustomed to lowering one fly-away basket after all had been raised for volleyball practice because "Spears is coming in later to shoot." When the Events Center was used for mid-term or final exams, it wasn't rare for Spears to show up afterwards - sometimes as late as 10:30 p.m. - to get in a final hour or more of shooting.
In one of her first encounters with Spears, first-year CU Coach Linda Lappe was impressed with Spears' conditioning, recalling that Spears' sub-6-minute mile "blew everybody out of the water." That meeting offered a glimpse into Spears' work ethic. Said Lappe prior to CU's Senior Day: "She doesn't miss any workouts, she's there every single day when she doesn't have to be."
And her teammates took notice.
"They say hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard . . . but obviously she does have talent, too," guard Brittany Wilson said. "You see the type of effort it takes to be drafted to a great team."
Spears' work ethic and skill set are obvious to anyone who has watched her over the past four years. A 2011 All-Big 12 first-team selection, she became CU's career scoring leader (2,185 points), with her final-season point total (652) the second-highest in program history.
The 6-foot-1 Spears averaged 19.2 points and 8.1 rebounds as a senior, 17.2 and 7.9 for her career. She hit her career high of 36 points twice, the first time in 2008 against UMass, the second against Southern California in this season's WNIT.
She can be a prolific scorer in a number of ways but her pull-up jumper, Lappe noted, needs honing. That's where a work ethic accustomed to being in overdrive comes in.
"We've already talked about what it's going to take for her to make a team; it's not guaranteed," Lappe said. "But I think this is an amazing day, an exciting day. She's worked really, really hard to be in this position, to have a chance to try out for a team. She's got to enjoy this, definitely.
"But starting from here on out to May 15 (the opening of camp), she's going to continue to work and work on her weaknesses and keep getting better and better and better. If she shows in the two- or three-week period what she can do and what we know she can do, then I think she'll have a great shot."
The WNBA's 15th season begins on June 3, with regular-season play concluding on Sept. 11. The league's 12 teams have rosters comprised of 11 players each. Phoenix, coached by Corey Gaines, finished 15-19 last season and 13-9 in the Western Conference, second behind Seattle (28-6, 20-2). The Mercury roster features former UConn star Diana Taurasi, who recently completed her seventh WNBA season and is among the league's - if not the world's - most recognizable players.
"I know they're up-tempo and they run a lot . . . and they've got Diana Taurasi," Spears said. "I watched her a lot, especially when she played for UConn. I've been watching her play for a long time. So, it's going be like kind of weird playing with her."
Spears arrived at CU with very few leadership skills and not many reasons to have developed any. Away from home (Pasadena, Calif.) for the first time, she spent a fitful start to a senior season at Notre Dame Prep School in Fitchburg, Mass. But she eventually settled in, sharpened her focus and came to CU primed for what would be a record-setting career.
Lappe had seen Spears play a handful of times before being named CU's coach a year ago and was aware of her talent. But how receptive she might be to a new coach and how she might progress in her final season were mysteries left unsolved until practice began.
"At the beginning of the year I wasn't quite sure (this day would come)," Lappe said. "I knew she'd be playing a lot of basketball after her days at Colorado, but I didn't exactly know if she'd be in the position she's in now. I felt like over the course of the year she stepped up in a lot of different ways. She really did everything we asked her to do as a coaching staff . . .
"Her leadership was much better this year. Through the course of the year it became evident that she might have a shot (at the WNBA), she might be able to do that. She kept going, she kept getting better and better, and by the end of the year I really felt that this day would happen. I'm just so happy that it did."
Spears will report to the Mercury's camp next month with no illusions. "I've still got a lot of work to do," she said. "I've got to go in there and perform and do all the little things."
But that's what she's addressed for the past four years at CU - the little things as well as the big ones. She's been a model worker for her teammates, and to see it rewarded as it was Monday "means a lot," Wilson said. "She's worked hard for what she accomplished. Her motivation is something that's rubbed off on us all."
The legacies of other former CU players have included more wins, but being renowned for hard work is a good way to be remembered. Spears' teammates said Monday they had never seen her happier. Bet on her working hard enough over the next month to make it last.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
