Junior forward Elena Delle Donne has led the Delaware Blue Hens to top 25 ranking and a undefeated record in the Colonial Athletic Association. (Photo by Mark Campbell)

Elena Delle Donne: Hometown heroine taking her own path toward greatness

In a sport where the top recruits repeatedly choose to play at a very select number of division one programs, Elena Delle Donne (pronounced ‘a-layna della-don’) has taken a path much less traveled by walking away from the game for a year after spending only two days at basketball superpower Connecticut.  Now she is leading the University of Delaware Blue Hens into previously uncharted territory of national ranking having grown up less than a half hour from the school. 

A brief look at the team…

Before getting to Delle Donne herself, it is only fair to ask why the Blue Hens are better than in the prior two seasons in which the redshirt junior was on the basketball team.  To start with Delle Donne missed twelve games last season suffering from Lyme’s Disease.  Even when she returned for the team’s last six games, she was not 100% and her seasonal shooting percentages from the field dropped about six per cent from the prior year.  Now fully healthy again and in her best playing shape as a collegian, Delle Donne’s shooting percentage from the field is up about 14% from last season. 

Another big plus for the Blue Hens is the addition of point guard Trumae Lucas (5-8 Jr G) who sat out last year after transferring from Florida.  Her presence has given the position greater stability than in recent years. 

More athleticism was added to the line-up by Akeema Richards (5-7 So G) who also sat out last year after transferring in from West Virginia.  She is a quality athlete who can guard on the perimeter and score by getting to the rim. 

Finally, the Blue Hens returned a lot of support players led by Danielle Parker (6-2 Jr 4F), who is the team’s second leading rebounder, and Lauren Carra (5-9 Jr G), who rounds out the starting line-up with the four previously mentioned.  As Delaware Coach Tina Martin pointed out “we are not a young club.”  With no senior starters should we then refer to the Blue Hens as ‘middle-aged?’

If the team can stay healthy and continue to build a resume of quality wins, this traditional mid major should deserve an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament even if the team does not win the Colonial Athletic Association automatic bid next March. 

What makes Delle Donne special as a player? 

1. Here is a listed 6-5 player with guard skills more associated with players at 5-6.  Of course that allows Delle Donne to help bring the ball up the court against pressure, but even more importantly create shots on her own in and out of the paint which few players her size can do.

2. She has the ability to finish difficult shots on a regular basis.  Delle Donne scores baskets on shots that some coaches would prefer not to have been taken to start with as the balance of the shooter did not appear quite set (but actually is for this player).

3. Delle Donne appears most comfortable shooting a face-up shot at 15 feet off the pass or dribble but she can also be dangerous on the block or behind the arc shooting a three, thus showing great versatility in scoring ability.  Like other great basketball players, Delle Donne can deaden her forward momentum as she approaches the basket to go up for a shot.

4. She has a high basketball IQ moving well without the ball and will pass the ball to an open teammate for a lay-up if incorrectly doubled. 

5. Don’t put her at the foul line as she shoots around 90% from the charity stripe.

6. She may not be the defensive presence of Baylor’s Britney Griner but Delle Donne’s arms are long and she can alter shots (if she does not block them).  She is very clever to stay down on the floor with her arms up letting the attacking player go up first before trying to block the shot thus more likely to avoid picking up the foul.

7. She is probably in her best playing shape (weight/muscle mass/ability to run the court) ever.  Elena credits this to Delaware’s Assistant Director of Athletics for Strength and Conditioning Augie Maurelli. 

 Where does she rank in the nation? 

It is hard not to place Elena Delle Donne in the top five players in this season’s edition of women’s college basketball in spite of playing in a mid major conference.  With a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, she may even vie for National Player of the Year awards.  Fairly or unfairly, the lack of regular major division one opposition will be held against her by some voters. 

Whether she decides to come out this year (her high school class would have completed four years of college) or spend a fifth year at Delaware (using up her eligibility), it is unlikely she would be taken below second in either year’s WNBA draft.

Here is the Elena Delle Donne time-line for her return to basketball (thanks to both Elena and Delaware Women’s Basketball Coach Tina Martin for supplying the details below):

November, 2007:  Delle Donne signs a letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Connecticut

June, 2008: Leaves UConn after just two days of the summer session returning home to Wilmington, Delaware

Fall, 2008: Enrolls at the nearby University of Delaware in Newark (less than 20 minutes from home) agreeing to play volleyball as a walk-on but still earning CAA All-rookie honors in the sport.

January, 2009: Delle Donne meets privately with Coach Martin just talking about school

February, 2009: Delle Donne receives permission to come into the gym after practice to shoot on her own without any UD coaches present

April, 2009:  Delle Donne makes no commitment to play basketball but tells Coach Martin that she is staying at Delaware to complete her undergraduate studies regardless and not to believe any of the rumors that had been circulating around campus of her transferring to play basketball elsewhere.

May, 2009:  Delle Donne tells Coach Martin of her plans to play basketball at the school but asks that the announcement not be made public until after graduation as not to deflect from that occasion. 

June 2, 2009: The return to hoops becomes public.  “I am looking forward to playing again and joining my new teammates this upcoming season. I am extremely excited to be competing in my home state and for Coach Martin. I really enjoyed playing volleyball this past fall but found myself missing basketball. Basketball has been an important part of my life and I realized that it is my first love and my passion.”

Below are portions of our Full Court interview with Elena held on the Delaware campus: 

FC: What brought you back to the University of Delaware after you left Connecticut?

EDD: My family is basically what brought me here.  It is a phenomenal university and twenty minutes from home.  Once I went to Connecticut I realized the importance of being near my family.  I just wanted to be happy and being with them made me happy. 

FC: Why did you choose to play volleyball your first year at the school?

EDD: I felt like I was burnt out from the sport [basketball] at that time period.  Now that I look back on it, it was probably more homesickness.  I kind of blamed the sport for it.  I blamed basketball for my unhappiness.  My unhappiness was really the thought that I was going to be away from my family.  I wanted to stay an athlete.  I have always been an athlete my entire life.  Being part of a team is like a family built in.  I am definitely a competitor so I wanted to keep competing.  Volleyball is a fun sport.  I love playing it but it kind of just a year to figure things out and see if I missed the sport [basketball] or not. 

FC: What did that teach you?

EDD: I actually went into volleyball not knowing anything about the sport. It is kind of interesting to go from basketball which I know so well to playing volleyball which I knew nothing about.  It was definitely a learning experience completely different than basketball but I liked the fact that I was still competing.  It was a challenge because I had no idea how to play volleyball.  

FC: What prompted you to return to basketball after that?

EDD: The volleyball season finished up and basketball season was obviously on its way.  I started getting that feeling like I need to be playing basketball.  I miss it.  Why am I playing volleyball?  Basketball is my passion, something I worked on my entire life.  The spark was I was finished with volleyball not doing anything in basketball.  No one was making me go back to it which was a huge thing.  It was completely my decision.  

FC: Did you consider playing both sports after returning to basketball? 

EDD:  I did but then I realized volleyball season and basketball season overlapped.  I really wanted to focus my attention toward basketball.  

FC: After returning to basketball, what did you find you missed the most/

EDD: Just being good at something.  Volleyball was different because I was just in the middle of the pack.  It is fun to be skilled at a sport and be able to do that and perform in front of all these Delaware fans.  It is an amazing feeling.   

FC: How did you find college basketball was different from the high school game?

EDD: The speed of the game was a little bit faster.  Post players were a lot stronger.  It was a little more physical.  Defensively speaking, there were a lot more things I needed to learn.  I really didn’t know about hedging screens, being help-side [are] things you really don’t learn in high school until you are under a really good coach like Coach Martin. 

FC: What did you find you needed to work on the most to succeed in the college game?

EDD: I definitely needed to work on my strength.  I was like a little string bean coming in.  That’s something that took a little while and lot of work with [Strength] Coach Augie Maurelli.  I also had to focus a lot on my mid range game because driving all the way to the basket I would face double teams. I had to work on pulling up short. 

FC: You have been referred to as a guard, forward and center?  What do you feel is your most natural position?

EDD: I would say guard.  Coach plays me at the four-position all the time but it is one where I step out.  She gives me the freedom to obviously shoot the three and use my ball handling skills.

FC: Maybe a two guard?

EDD: Yes

FC: What do you think have been your biggest basketball accomplishments to date (high school and then college)?

EDD: As a high school player, I would probably say winning four state titles and I think we got nationally ranked in high school.

For college, this season by far has been a lot beating [nationally ranked] Penn State was an amazing accomplishment and great feeling to play against a top ranked team and win was huge.

FC: What are your goals while on the Delaware women’s basketball team?

EDD: Definitely to win a CAA Championship.  We have not done that yet.  We have never won the [CAA] Tournament.

FC: Where do you see yourself in 5 years and in 10 years?

EDD:  In five years, probably playing basketball I hope if my body hangs in there which is very healthy now.  You never know what will happen in the future.  In ten years, I don’t know, that’s way too far ahead!

FC: Interest in pro hoops?  WNBA and/or Europe?

EDD:  I definitely consider the WNBA.  Europe, I am not positive about.  We’ll see what offers come about. 

FC: What about your non-basketball life?  I know you have interest in special education.

EDD:  Special education, also my trainer and I want to do something with kids where maybe we do training programs and camps.  I love kids.  I love basketball.  I would work with any age of youth groups. 

FC: Are you on course to graduate this spring?

EDD: Yes, even with change in major [to human services].  

FC: Will you consider going to the WNBA after this season?

EDD: I don’t know.  I am not positive.  I am definitely leaning more toward staying at Delaware for next year. 

FC: You played on the USA World University Games Team this past summer.  Can you discuss that experience and what you learned from it?

EDD: It was an amazing experience.  I made so many friends and was finally able to hang out with some of the top caliber athletes in our class which I had not been around them that much being at Delaware and in the CAA we really don’t play against all those top teams.  I was able to learn a lot about leadership roles by watching Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike. 

FC: Do you want to be an Olympian?

EDD: Yes

FC: I understand you have a handicapped sister Elizabeth [Lizzy can’t walk, talk, see or hear and communicates basically through touch and a few basic signs.].  How has her situation affected you?

EDD: Growing up, being around Lizzy is something which has kept my brother and me completely level-headed, just puts everything in life in perspective.  It helps me realize when basketball isn’t going well or something [else] is not going well, it is a game.  Being around Lizzy and her peers sets everything into perspective.  She’s a fighter.  She teaches me how to fight.

FC:  I’d like to go back to the recruiting process.  You originally choose Connecticut from pretty much having the pick of any school out there.  Why?

EDD: It is one of the best schools in the country.  I really liked the girls on the team and I thought that I fit in with them really well on the recruiting visit.  Geno [Auriemma] is such an intelligent coach and I thought I would learn a lot under him.  I was only looking at top schools. [Delaware was not on the radar.]  Villanova was kept in mind because it was close to home. 

FC: Did you feel you had made a mistake even before going up to the UCONN campus for the summer session in June 2008?

EDD: I little bit.  Throughout my senior year of high school I was really struggling with the whole college process.  I wasn’t looking forward toward going to college.  All my friends were so excited about it and I was dreading it.  I knew something was wrong.

FC: You spent just two days there.  In retrospect, do you feel you gave it enough time?  What prompted you to leave so quickly?

 EDD: I would have changed the way I went about things.  I was too far away from home.  I needed to be near my family.  At that point, I didn’t think I liked basketball so what am I doing here [at Connecticut]? 

FC: You talked about being burnt out. Could you explain what you meant by that?

EDD: The thing is when people think burn out people think you worked too hard or were tired.  It wasn’t like that at all.  I have always enjoyed my training a lot.  It wasn’t like a physical burn out.  It was more of a mental burn out toward the whole recruiting process I feel did it to me.  The whole time I was looking at big [basketball power] schools and those schools were far away from my family and that was really stressing me.  It started leading to the whole dreading thing and not enjoying basketball anymore because I was dreading my college career.  

FC: In high school people questioned whether you enjoyed the game.

EDD:  I was caught up with the recruiting experience and really dreading college.  I could not even enjoy high school basketball that much which is really a shame.  No, you were right.  I really was not liking it.  Now that I’m here at Delaware and love what I’m doing, it is such a different feeling.

FC: Does it bother you than you are not yet as well known by the general sports public as say Maya Moore was?

EDD: Not at all really, I actually use it as motivation.  I work really hard to try to get Delaware noticed.  Hopefully, if things work out we will be on that national level.  

FC:  Some have called you a female Dirk Nowitzki.  Any comment?

EDD: My USA teammates call me Dirk.  His size and he really can shoot and step out so I can see that comparison. 

FC: One WNBA observer told me your game was a combination of Lauren Jackson and Diana Taurasi.  Any comment?

EDD: That’s impressive!  That’s a complement for sure.  There are a handful of players I try to model my game after but I want to be me.  Hopefully one day people can compare an up and coming player to me.

FC:  Given your experience, if you could give one piece of advice to any future college recruit, what would it be?

EDD:  Sit down and figure out what is important to you.   If I had stepped back and did that, I would have looked at completely different schools and been close to home and that family was most important.  Winning national championships and being on ESPN and the top ranked team wasn’t what was most important [to me].  So figure out what is most important to you before looking at schools.