Connecticut Sun getting boost from Wisconsin rookie
After so much turnover, many (including myself) didn’t expect the Connecticut Sun to do as well as they have in previous seasons, but lo and behold, they’ve started to prove us wrong in the early part of the season. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel profiled one its up-and-coming rookies, Jolene Anderson.
In about 90 minutes Anderson will join those players - as well as 10-year veteran Tamika Whitmore - in the starting lineup when the Sun plays a Chicago Sky team that includes newly minted Olympian Sylvia Fowles.
“Every day is just amazing,” Anderson said. “Every day I appreciate life even better than I was when I was at Wisconsin. . . . Every day I think, ‘Wow, is it really me?’ “
Anderson also gets the joy of playing in a town similar to that of her college home at the University of Wisconsin.
So much has changed for Anderson, yet so little has, too.
She’s still speaks to her mother daily, often more than once. She is also in regular contact with Danielle Ward, her former teammate and good friend, and was able to reconnect with UW coach Lisa Stone, who spent a few days in Connecticut watching the Sun practice.
And in playing for the Sun, Anderson comes as close to capturing the small-town feel of her hometown of Port Wing, Wis., as she’ll find in the WNBA. Connecticut is the only team in the league that isn’t located in a NBA city.
The team plays its games in Uncasville (population 12,000) where its owners, the Mohegan Indian Tribe, own a casino/mall/hotel that also houses the 10,000 seat arena the Sun calls home.
“Growing up, I wanted to go and live on the East coast and play professional basketball or whatnot, so I love it,” said Anderson, who will play in France during the off-season. “It’s a dream come true. It’s a lot different than Wisconsin and the Midwest. The weather is probably about the same, but it’s a really small town.”
Anderson has started two of the Sun’s six games this season, averaging 6.7 points per game.
Tags: "jolene anderson", connecticut-sun, wisconsin, WNBA, wnba-basketball, womens-basketball
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