Girls taking the long road

Young senior point guard D'Frantz Smart feels like an NBA player.

Before the Dolphins left for the Archbishop Mitty holiday tournament in San Jose, Calif., Smart described the Dolphins' schedule: Off to California after Christmas for a few days in San Jose, back home for a couple Public League games (including the second Young-Marshall grudge match of the season Friday at Marshall) and then off to the Washington, D.C., area the weekend of Jan. 18-19 for the Super Showcase in Middleburg, Va.

''We're going to D.C. after [San Jose], so it feels like we're an NBA team,'' Smart said.

Since January 2006 when the Illinois High School Association lifted out-of-state travel restrictions for schools during the season, girls basketball teams have taken advantage of it and are racking up frequent- flier miles.

Top-ranked and undefeated Young went to San Jose last month and won that tournament, outscoring its opponents 163-119. In 2006 the Dolphins went to the Junior Orange Bowl Classic in Miami and won that tournament, too. On Dec. 14, the Dolphins traveled to Detroit, where they beat Martin Luther King 47-35.

''Their guards [in California] are up-tempo and similar to Marshall and similar to all the city teams, so basically we are preparing ourselves for coming back [home],'' Smart said. ''[Playing and beating teams from out of state] gives you a mind-set that you can beat anybody.''

And Bolingbrook traveled to the Junior Orange Bowl Classic this Christmas, where it went 3-0 and won the championship.

This is becoming the norm now for girls teams to leave Illinois as often as they can, trying to play better competition from other states so they can get a leg up on Illinois teams once the state tournament rolls around in February. Girls basketball has become similar to the boys game in this regard and will only emulate the boys game more in the future.

And you can't ignore that more teams from out of state are coming into Illinois to play in tournaments and shootouts. The McDonald's shootout at Willowbrook during Martin Luther King weekend has always drawn teams from Indiana, Ohio and throughout the Midwest.

During that same weekend, Jan. 19-21, the MLK Dream Classic, started by Marshall girls coach Dorothy Gaters, features boys and girls teams from Illinois and around the country. The seventh annual event is at Young and is hosted by Marshall. There will be 60 teams at the Classic this year.

Incarnate Word of St. Louis has played in the Quincy Thanksgiving tournament the past few years, and beat Hope in November for the tournament title. It is Hope's only loss this season. Hope has also benefitted from the travel ban lift, heading to Detroit to play King on Dec. 1. The Eagles won that tussle 68-33.

Because of the increased travel that Illinois teams are doing, it seems like national rankings are more important than ever. Each week USA Today ranks the top 25 girls teams in the country.

The poll took a break during the Christmas holidays but will come out with a new poll on Wednesday.

SI.com also has a high school girls poll. It's last installment was Dec. 10.

When Young heads to Virginia, it's going to take on the No. 1 team in the country, according to the latest USA Today and SI.com polls, in Notre Dame Academy. The Dolphins are ranked No. 5 in SI.com and 14 in USA Today. Buffalo Grove is ranked No. 15 in USA Today and 17 in SI.

Young coach Corry Irvin said going out of state is good for the players from a technical aspect.

''It's good for the girls to play teams with different styles of play,'' Irvin said. ''In California, they had the shot clock.''

And looking at rankings on the Internet is having an effect on players, too.

''I think a lot of the kids [go on the Internet],'' Irvin said. ''Even our players go on there and see what they're [ranked].''

Smart likens a road trip almost to a vacation. When I talked to her before they left for California, she was thrilled at the thought of getting away from Chicago and the cold weather.

''Last year it was in Miami, and we wore shorts and went swimming,'' Smart said of last year's trip to the Junior Orange Bowl Classic, where the 5-foot guard was the tournament MVP. ''It's like a vacation. But it's a tough schedule, and we're trying to be the best team we're capable of being. And to be great, you have to play great teams -- and there are great teams in the state, but there are other teams out there.''

Irvin thinks the changes to girls basketball are a good thing.

''It's a long time coming, and it's going to be like it is on the boys side,'' Irvin said. "Kids are getting more exposure.''

Ashley Wilson, one of the most heavily recruited athletes to come out of Wheeling's girls basketball program and one of the top juniors in the state, made an oral commitment Sunday to Purdue during a team trip to West Lafayette, Ind., Wheeling coach Shelly Wiegel said. Wilson, a 6-foot forward who went over the 1,000-point mark last week, made the commitment during Purdue's game against Connecticut.