'Top recruiting class' helps
Boilers in games, practices
By Cathy McLaren
Staff
Writer
Purdue's women's basketball
team has gotten off to an impressive start in exhibition play this season
— a fact mainly due to the hard-nosed play of a half-dozen talented
freshmen.
Guards Cherrise Graham, Beth
Jones and Erika Valek and forwards Lindsey Hicks, Shalicia Hurns and
Shereka Wright form what many critics have called "the nation's top
recruiting class."
Living up to such pre-season
hype is a weighty responsibility but also an exciting one, said Valek,
the team's starting point guard. "We have a lot of big shoes to fill,"
she said. "As freshmen, we have to learn everything."
The first-year Boilers seem
to be learning quite quickly. Already they have each made hefty contributions
on the court, both in the first two exhibition games and in practice.
"I just want to help the
team with whatever position I end up playing," said Graham, a first
team All-American pick by Parade and Street and Smith's.
Valek, another first team
All-American selection by Parade, echoed Graham's sentiments. "I want
to come to this program and do anything possible (to succeed). I want
to prove what I'm capable of doing."
While attempting to prove
just that, Valek and her freshman teammates are also in a period of
adjustment. Finding the time to balance schoolwork and basketball has
proven to be a challenge for the women, who are all in the School of
Liberal Arts except for Wright, who is in the School of Consumer and
Family Sciences.
"There's so much to do,"
said Valek. "I go from practice to eat to school — the day is all
planned out. I'm used to breaks in between. Managing my time —
I'm not used to it."
Graham identified with her
teammate. "Going from high school to college, the workload — practicing
and school — is a lot harder than what you would think," she said.
The transition from high
school basketball to college basketball is a major adjustment, said
the freshmen.
"You have to be stronger,"
said Graham. "You have to work harder to make a basket or a pass."
Valek said, "Of course (going
from high school to college) has got to be different. It's a different
atmosphere. There are those little things you have to take care of.
It's a different adjustment, but it's good."
Practices are something that
Graham feels are different from high school.
"They seem really long,"
she said. "We do so many drills. After doing three or four drills
it seems like it's been three hours, but it's really only been 20 minutes."
A team member who has proven
to be an asset in practice this season is redshirted senior Laura Meadows,
a transfer from Kentucky. Because she is required to sit out a year
due to NCAA transfer rules, the 6-3 forward relies on practice alone
to improve her game as well as the games of her teammates.
"I come in every day and
push the other players," said Meadows. "I make everyone around me better
in practice.
"Purdue has a very positive,
upbeat, encouraging program," she said. "It's fun to come in every day
and get to work."
A solid defender and scorer
who can go both inside and out, Meadows was second in scoring, rebounding,
blocks and assists for Kentucky's team in the 1999 to 2000. The Boilermakers
are looking for this same consistency and leadership from her this year
in practice and next year all around.
Though leaving behind impressive
statistics from her Wildcat career, Meadows is pleased with her transfer
to Purdue.
"I love it here," she said.
"All the people are great. The coaching staff has such a personal side;
they're so sincere. It's a close team with a good rapport with the coaches.
Right away, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of."
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