Notre Dame Athletes of the Year: All-American Ruth Riley leads Irish to first national championship
By NOAH AMSTADTER
Sports Editor
Most members of the Class of 2001 spent this past week enjoying the rewards of their four years on campus — a trip to Cedar Point, an outing to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs and Wednesday night's formal dance.
Ruth Riley had to miss the festivities — she was busy working. The Observer's 2000-01 Female Athlete of the Year spent the week in Florida, preparing for her first season in the WNBA as a member of the Miami Sol.
The fifth overall pick in the WNBA draft last month, Riley is less than two months removed from leading the Irish women's basketball team to its first ever NCAA title. She averaged 18.7 points as a senior to go along with 7.8 rebounds, efforts that helped earn her recognition as the Naismith Women's College Player of the Year.
But the 6-foot-5 center didn't always have it so easy at Notre Dame. When she first came to South Bend from the small town of Macy, Ind. in the fall of 1997, Riley was a tall and gangly project.
"I think when she came in she wasn't ready really for the pace of the game," said Irish head coach Muffet McGraw.
But Riley adjusted quickly, starting the final 26 games of the season and leading the Irish to the Sweet 16. She averaged 18 points that year in Notre Dame's three NCAA tournament games.
Riley's effectiveness on the floor increased year after year, due in no small part to her work ethic and dedication that served as a model for her teammates.
"Ruth is the type of player that you look at and point to to say this is what we want everybody else to do," McGraw said.
As a senior, the once-shy Riley began to take more initiative, instructing teammates and often serving as a spokesperson.
"She led by example I think every year that she was here,"McGraw said. "This year she was more vocal, and I thought that was a big improvement for her."
The biggest adjustments Riley made as a senior, however, were to her game on the court. She displayed a tendency to get into foul trouble at the worst possible times, including a Sweet 16 loss to Texas Tech in 2000 during which the Irish blew a 16-0 lead.
During Notre Dame's championship run, Riley fouled out of just two contests but still averaged 3.1 blocked shots per contest.
"I think it's just that I started realizing that you don't have to block everything," Riley said. "I just knew that I wanted to be out there on the court with my teammates and not be hindered by foul trouble. It was something I focused on all year."
That team spirit helped the Irish form a potent offensive attack. Facing double-teams, Riley's scoring was limited early on in the 2000 season. Riley frequently passed the ball off to open teammates. The names Alicia Ratay, Niele Ivey and Kelley Siemon began to appear in the "Leading Scorer" column more and more often.
"It definitely makes us a lot harder to guard," Riley said. "That's one of the reasons why we were so successful this year, because they couldn't just focus on one player."
McGraw thinks that improvement set Riley apart from other talented scorers on less successful teams.
"I thought her passing was one of the best parts of her game this year," McGraw said. "She doesn't care if she scores a lot of points, that's the best thing about Ruth. She's so unselfish, she doesn't get frustrated if she's not scoring because it's not that important to her."
After the parades and television appearances began to die down, Riley traveled to New York for the WNBA draft. The hope was that the home state Indiana Fever would take Hoosier favorite Riley.
To the disappointment of Riley's legion of Indiana fans, the Fever chose Tennessee's Tamika Catchings and the Hoosier State's favorite daughter went to Miami.
"I think they were all a little disappointed that I didn't go to Indianapolis, because they'd all go down there too,"Riley said.
Riley went to Miami in late April for training camp. The Vorizon Women's Basketball Academic All-American of the Year took homework assignments with her. She practiced twice a day, and finished her class-work the rest of the time.
"My professors were just really great, allowing me to take the finals down here and e-mail them in or mail them in,"Riley said.
As far as adjusting her game to the next level, Riley notes that the WNBA, with so many talented athletes, plays a different kind of game than the college ranks.
"It's a completely different game,"Riley said. "You need just to get used to the style; it's more individualized in a way."
Ironically, Riley's toughest challenge so far is playing offense without the constant double-teams.
"I guess I'll have to work offensively on one-and-one stuff because a lot of times in college I was double-teamed and didn't really have the opportunity to improve in that area,"she said.
Even though Riley has adjustments to make, her college coach expects nothing but success from her star center.
"Right now she's really at the top of her game,"McGraw said. "I think she's a great passer. She's a very good low-post player; she's a very good free-throw shooter. She's a great rebounder, she blocks shots.
"They're looking for her to contribute defensively initially. I don't think she's going to be a go-to player at that level, so I think she's going to be more of a role player on offense initially."
All Sports Stories for Friday, May 18, 2001
