Samarie Walker Arrives

May 16, 2009 - Colorado Springs, Colo.

The youngest player at the 2009 USA Basketball Women's U19 National Team Trials almost didn't even make it to Colorado Springs. Samarie Walker had a travel experience that could be a sequel to the classic comedy flick Planes, Trains and Automobiles. She had an early flight scheduled out of Dayton, her hometown airport, which lies a mere 15 minutes from Walker's home.

Figuring she needed to check in about 6:00 a.m., Walker was en route by 5:45 a.m., thinking that would be plenty of time to get there. But fate, disguised as an overturned semi, had other plans. The semi not only blocked all lanes, caused a three-car pile-up, forcing everyone to detour the wreckage.

Finally arriving at the airport at 6:30 a.m., the 6-1 forward was told that she was too late for her original flight. However, she would be able to get on the 1:00 p.m. flight.

Returning at 11:30 a.m. only to find out that the 1:00 p.m. had been cancelled, Walker was again informed about an even later option: the 6:00 p.m. flight. It would still get her into Colorado Springs on Thursday night, albeit too late for the first trials session. But it was the only option, and one she gladly took.

Flying standby on the evening flight, Walker's name was called and she had a seat. Things were starting to look up. But again, something went wrong. The flight was first delayed to a 7:00 p.m. departure, then bumped again to 7:45 p.m. By the time Walker touched down in Dallas, her flight to Colorado Springs was taking off. Yet another delay for Walker, who had to spend the night in a hotel near the airport.

Scheduled to fly from Dallas to Colorado Springs on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m., the flight was pushed back an hour.

She finally made it to the U.S. Olympic Training Center after delays spanning about 30 hours. A few hours later, after getting settled into her dorm room, she stepped out on the court for the third of five trials sessions. Everyone else got to shake off the rust Thursday night. Walker had to get up to speed quickly if the rising high school senior was to impress the committee.

USA Basketball.com let Walker get two trials sessions under her belt before sitting down to talk about how everything is going for the player who plans to play for the University of Connecticut in two years.

Was it so frustrating that at some point you might have thought it wasn't meant to be?
I did. I was determined to get here. But when my (1:00 p.m.) flight got cancelled I thought, maybe it's not meant to be. Maybe God's trying to tell me that I'm not ready yet because I'm the youngest one here. But I was going to try my best to make it there. It was hard, I was stressed.

After you finally got here and got ready for your first session, everyone else had two sessions behind them. Did you feel a little behind the 8-ball in a sense that you had some catching up to do?
I was talking to my dad on my way here and I was like, ‘I'm kind of nervous because everybody else already has played and I want to catch up and stuff.' I was really, really nervous.

So how did you feel in Friday night's session?
After awhile, after I got going, I felt better about it. I felt like I did pretty good for my first time out.

And after this morning's scrimmages?
I felt a little bit better. I didn't think I did all that good today, but I feel better about it than I did last night.

Has the altitude had any effect on you?
Not really. I don't know why, but I play better in this type of altitude than in my own home in Dayton. We went to New Mexico to play two years ago and I felt fine then. But when I got back home I was all out of breath and stuff. I'm doing pretty well here.

What's it like being here at the U.S. Olympic Training Center? Have you seen or talked with any other athletes?
Yeah, I've seen a lot of them. I saw the wrestlers, and they're really big. It's a great honor to be here with all these great athletes, whether it's the basketball players, the wrestlers, taekwondo, it's just a great honor to be here.

As you mentioned, you are the youngest player out here, not only in terms of age but also in terms of experience. What's it like being out here with all these older players?
It was scary at first because I was like, ‘well, I'm only 16, all these girls are 18 and 19. Why are they choosing me? What did I do that's so great that they would pick a junior in high school and all these girls are either going into college or are in college?' But it's a great honor to even be thought about to come to something like this.

You plan on signing with the University of Connecticut, what was it about UConn that made you want to spend four years there?
It's always been a dream of mine since I was in the fourth grade. I watched Tamika Williams growing up at Chaminade-Julienne, which is the high school I go to. Then when she went to UConn ... it's just been a dream. Then watching Diana (Taurasi) and Sue Bird, Rebecca Lobo and now Maya (Moore) and Tina (Charles) and the rest of them, it's just been a dream. I admire all of them so much.

What's it like being out here with some of your future teammates?
It was good to play with Kelly (Faris) for the first time today and getting to watch Maya, Tina and Tiffany (Hayes) play. I watch them to see what I have to work on to get better and to get where they are.

What did you think about last summer's Olympic team?
It was amazing. I don't know how to explain it, it's something you don't ever think you'll get to participate in, it's just something you always dream about and watch. It was amazing.

Were there any moments that really stood out?
The swimming team, they were beastly. Michael Phelps and everyone else was great. And the basketball, of course, our men's and women's team did really good.

The next Olympics will be in London in 2012 and Geno Auriemma is going to be the USA's coach. Will you follow those Games more because of that?
Probably a little bit more because I'll be in college by then. I know he's a great coach so I think he'll take them really far.

Did you get any advice from anyone about trials before you got out here? Did you know what to expect?
I'm just trying to play defense because that's something that I usually don't do. I'm trying to work on defense and hustles. I know that's two things they look for, those and rebounding. So that's what I'm trying to do to impress them because I'm not used to not being the scorer. But everybody here can score, so I'm trying to do something else to try to impress them.

BONUS!!!
We also spoke with two of Walker's future teammates, Maya Moore and Tina Charles. They both have played for USA Basketball and know what the trials are like. Moore has won two gold medals, Charles has one to her credit. We caught up with the Husky duo following the 2009 USA World University Games Team Trials Saturday morning session.

Tina Charles
Have you watched Samarie at all?
I've only been able to see her a little bit. But I relayed a message from coach, telling us to work hard all the time.

Has she come to you for advice as someone who's tried out for a team before?
She was nervous. I told her to play hard and everything will work out. Play hard, give 110 percent.

How much would this help her game if she were to make this team, playing for college coaches and with college players?
I think that would be a great experience. It would help her learn more, help her mature. I know it definitely helped me to mature when I was 17 on the 18 and under team. It would definitely help her mature.

Maya Moore
You were in the same position as Samarie Walker - both in terms of being highly recruited and trying out for USA Basketball - and handled both well. How do you think she's doing with all the attention and here at trials?
I know that everybody who comes to UConn has to be a special kind of competitor. I haven't really been able to watch her play a lot, but she seems like one of those people who wants the best. She wants to work hard. She wants to be challenged. You have to be that type of competitor if you want to come to UConn. In talking with her when she was on her visit, she seemed like she knew what she wanted. She always wanted to come to Connecticut. It was one of her dreams. I'm just happy that she was able to work hard to put herself in a position to come to UConn. I'm excited to have her. I'll be a senior, she'll be a freshman, I'm sure she'll work out.

I talked to her a little bit yesterday, it was more casual, not too much about basketball. But she said she did pretty well yesterday. I'll check up on her again today and see how she's doing. If she's playing hard, playing her game, there's really not much you can tell them. Out here you have to play your game. You can't change a lot when you come here. If that's what she'd doing, I'm not going to critique it.