Sky isn’t mistaking potential of Gonzaga star Vandersloot

• Reprints

Guard Courtney Vandersloot raised the bar for women's basketball at Gonzaga, which almost passed her over. | Gary Dineen~Getty Images

Updated: September 24, 2011 12:24AM

As a high school senior in Kent, Wash., Courtney Vandersloot, the Sky’s first-round draft pick this year, knew she wanted to play basketball at Gonzaga.

It was an in-state school, it wasn’t too big or too small and Vandersloot felt at home.

‘‘I knew it would fit me perfectly,’’ she said.

The problem was Gonzaga didn’t have the same interest in her. Vandersloot attended the school’s camp one summer, and coach Kelly Graves paid little attention to her.

When the camp was over and Graves was giving Vandersloot her evaluation, he told her she needed to become a better passer.

‘‘My assistant looks at me and goes, ‘What did you just say?’ ” Graves said. “ ‘She’s a great passer, and she always has been.’ But I saw she was getting 20 points a game in high school, and I figured she was a scoring point guard. I had no idea. Fortunately we didn’t lose her for the stupid thing I said.’’

After some urging by his assistants, Graves offered Vandersloot a scholarship. He never imagined the kind of impact she would have on his program.

She averaged 10.6 points and 5.6 assists during her freshman year and helped Gonzaga earn a berth in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

But Vandersloot knew she needed to do more.

So she worked — sometimes by herself, sometimes with teammates and a few times with NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton, a Gonzaga graduate.

‘‘He helped me learn different ways to get my shot off,’’ the 5-8 Vandersloot said. ‘‘That was the biggest thing. Being a small point guard, you sometimes have to find creative ways to get shots off over bigger and stronger players.’’

Vandersloot’s numbers improved to 16.4 points and 7.5 assists as she led Gonzaga to the second round of the women’s NCAA tournament during her sophomore year. But though she helped the program earn its first victory in the NCAAs, she wasn’t
satisfied.

‘‘I definitely want to be a winner of some sort,’’ said Vandersloot, the only Division I player with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career assists. ‘‘All the individual accomplishments are great and everything, but I think the best thing about a career is the championships you win. That’s what people remember about a player.”

During her final two years of college, Vandersloot — and the Bulldogs — continued to grow. She helped Gonzaga reach the Sweet 16 her junior year, and as a senior last season, she led the 11th-seeded Bulldogs to the Elite 8 by scoring at least 26 points in all four tournament games.

‘‘I think Courtney will be the standard by which every student athlete at Gonzaga will forever be judged,’’ Graves said. ‘‘Even John Stockton didn’t have as big of an impact as a college athlete as Courtney did.’’

Vandersloot isn’t flashy. And yet, at Gonzaga, she displayed a star quality, taking an under-the-radar women’s program and making it popular.

‘‘What she’s done for women’s basketball is phenomenal,’’ Graves said. ‘‘It’s now the ‘in’ thing to do in Washington. We had a great team and all of that, but we’re selling out because of Courtney. People just love that kid. There’s just an appeal about her, and that drew interest from all over.’’

Sky coach Pokey Chatman
believes Vandersloot, the third overall pick in the draft, can have a similar impact in Chicago.

‘‘She just happens to be a likable person that has a nice game to go along with it,’’ Chatman said. ‘‘The players like her. They like how
she works. They like her passion for the game.

‘‘I do think she could have the same effect here.’’

Graves believes Vandersloot’s work ethic and humble nature will help make her a franchise player in the WNBA for years to come. Vandersloot rarely ignores anyone who offers advice — even the time when it came from a coach who was that wasn’t paying attention.

‘‘I believed him,’’ Vandersloot said of Graves’ evaluation back then. ‘‘I thought he was right at the time. I needed to work on my passing, and I did.’’