The Review

Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: File Photo Senior guard Tyresa Smith, Delaware's second all-time leading scorer, is the first Hen to make the WNBA.

When Tyresa Smith first walked onto the Bob Carpenter Center court a little less than four years ago, she left an impressive trail of high school accolades in her wake. 2003 Delaware State Player of the Year, as selected by Gatorade and the Wilmington News Journal. First team all-state as a junior and senior and a state champion at Polytech High School in Dover.

Still, despite her accomplishments, women's basketball head coach Tina Martin did not think freshman Tyresa Smith was ready for big time college basketball at first.

"A lot of kids come in here and they're not ready for Division I basketball," Martin said. "Tyresa was not ready to compete at that level when she got here."

Oh, how much has changed in four years.

Smith transformed herself from an unsure, lanky freshman into a chiseled, confident, scoring dynamo. In the 2006-2007 season, the 5-foot 10-inch Smith showed she was ready for the national spotlight, totaling 19.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game - leading the Hens to their first NCAA tournament berth since 2001.

Smith's long journey from high school recruit to senior phenom finally paid off when she was selected 18th overall in the 2007 WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday.

"She's worked extremely hard to get better and this has been a progress four years in the making," Martin said. "She wanted to take her game to the next level but she did it. She belongs."

Smith has been on a rollercoaster ride since March 18, when the Hens fell to No. 5 seed Michigan State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The star Hen had little time to lament the loss, though.

"Playing in the tournament was a really good experience, but right after the game, Coach Martin said I had a chance to be selected to go to the WBNA pre-draft camp in Cleveland," Smith said.

The camp, which invites the nation's top 40 seniors to work out for WNBA coaches and general managers, serves a similar role as the NFL's Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. While Smith anxiously waited to see if she was selected to go to the camp, Martin already had a good idea that Smith would be invited.

"During the year, several WNBA scouts came to some regular-season games," she said. "I knew there were three scouts at the James Madison game when Tyresa scored 32 points, and that was big because [the Dukes] were nationally ranked at the time."

Continued...

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