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Stiles goes to Sparks with last pick
By Scott Puryear, Springfield News-Leader, April 25, 2003 Being picked last in the WNBA Dispersal Draft could be construed as an insult to its former league rookie of the year, if only it didn’t have the makings of a blessing in disguise for Jackie Stiles. The former Southwest Missouri State star, taken with the 14th and final pick by the two-time defending WNBA champion Los Angeles Sparks in Thursday’s one-round dispersal of players from the folded Portland Fire and Miami Sol teams, sees a great fit between a Sparks team already loaded with talent and a player who may still need some time to fully recover from recent wrist and foot injuries. “That’s the real positive about it ... they’re a championship team, so it’s a place where I don’t think I will get rushed before I’m ready, and I think they can afford to wait on me,’’ Stiles said Thursday night. “I think a lot of the teams that picked before them probably couldn’t wait on me, and would be wanting me ready to go at the start of training camp. “One thing I know is they are very unselfish, and all they care about is winning. “It’ll be really exciting to be in an environment like that.’’ As for being picked last, Stiles said “I was in a tough situation. There were a lot of doubts ... I’m coming off my worst year as a basketball player, I’ve had all these injuries, there are a lot of question marks, and that’s one of the biggest reasons I slid. “But I have an opportunity. The only thing I can control is my health, so I’m trying to get healthy and get back on the court. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that I will get back to where I was in college and my rookie season.’’ Stiles was driving home to Claflin, Kan., from Springfield when her cell phone rang with the news. She said her boyfriend, Brian Hargrove (the 27-year-old son of her former Portland Fire coach, Linda Hargrove) got the word to her that she had been taken by the Sparks. “Initially, I was shocked,’’ Stiles said. “L.A. had not talked to anybody about me. Not Coach Hargrove, not my agent, not me ... I didn’t hear any interest from them, so I was completely shocked. Then I was like, ‘Wow, I get to play for a championship team.’ ” And one led by WNBA star Lisa Leslie, whom Stiles became acquainted with at the WNBA All-Star game two years ago. “I was waiting in line for a picture shoot, and one of the veteran players tried to butt in front of me, because I was a rookie,’’ Stiles said. “Lisa said, ‘Hey wait, Jackie’s next.’ She stood up for me.’’ The 5-foot-8 guard missed 11 games last season, and while trying to play through pain, watched her scoring average dip from 14.9 points per game (as the WNBA’s rookie of the year in 2001) to 5.9 points. Stiles, 24, had not talked to Sparks coach Michael Cooper as of late Thursday, and didn’t know when she would report to the team (the Sparks open the season May 24 against the new Connecticut Suns on ABC-TV). But she already was thinking of the challenges of L.A. for a small-town Kansas girl. The same one who, while driving through storm and tornado warnings and taking multiple phone calls, missed a turn on the way home Thursday and wound up in Wichita. “Every time I’ve had to adjust (to a new city), I’ve been able to manage,” Stiles said, before adding with a laugh, “but if they just give me a map and say, ‘find the gym,’ I’ll probably be in trouble.’’ TO THE TOP |