Once in a slump, now shooting for perfection

Her high school career didn't end the way she wanted. Her college career didn't begin the way she wanted, either.

But the first time Kim Rodgers stepped on the floor in a game at the University of Maryland, she found perfection.

It turned out to be a dream debut for the most acclaimed girls basketball recruit ever to come out of South Hampton Roads, a Princess Anne High graduate who committed to Maryland one day after the Terrapins won the national championship in 2006.

"Ready to go?" Terrapins coach Brenda Frese asked Rodgers early in the second half of the Dec. 9 game against Loyola.

Ready? Are you kidding? After the broken bone in her hand ended her high school career in the Beach District tournament, Rodgers then tore up a knee as a college freshman. Was she ready? After a bout with mono delayed this night yet again, was she ready?

Play it cool, Rodgers thought to herself. She nodded to Frese and put down the heating pad that kept her hands warm. She blocked out all those shots that failed to fall during halftime warmups and entered the game for Marah Strickland with 14:01 remaining.

It was only a few minutes before Kristi Toliver flung a pass in Rodger's direction. She caught the ball and lofted a shot from behind the arc. The two watched the shot as if it were slow motion.

"It bounced around a couple of times and dropped," Rodgers said. "It felt like somebody was looking after me to make sure it went in. Definitely, that one was lucky.

"When you're sitting there, you always imagine how your first game is going to go and hope you'll make your first shot. Actually doing it felt really good."

Three more shots followed without a miss - all from 3-point range. Rodgers finished with 14 points and three rebounds.

"I was fortunate to give her the first assist," Toliver said. "We were all really excited. She's probably the only kid in college basketball who's (shooting) 100 percent."

A beginning like that holds promise for the start of something big for Rodgers. The 5-foot-9 guard hopes to build on that when she plays for the second time in her college career Sunday at the Constant Center when Old Dominion hosts No. 15 Maryland. She's never played in that arena despite growing up nearby and playing high school basketball for the perennial Beach District power.

Rodgers hoped to end her high school career with a state title two years ago, but that got derailed when she broke the fourth metacarpal bone in her right hand during the postseason.

"I really feel like if I hadn't broken my hand, we could have won another state championship," said Rodgers, who led the Cavaliers to a state crown her sophomore year.

A second-team Parade All-American and the 29th-ranked high school senior, according to the Blue Star Report, Rodgers turned down Virginia to go north and play at Maryland. She made the decision the night Toliver's lethal 3-pointer stunned Duke in overtime to give Maryland its first national championship.

"I still think I would have picked Maryland if Kristi hadn't hit that shot," Rodgers said. "But that helped."

Then, early in preseason, Rodgers made a move she had repeated countless times before. This time, the knee gave way and she tore her anterior cruciate ligament, doing extensive damage to the meniscus.

"Please, please, please don't let my ACL be torn," she pled through tears.

The MRI reading was like a kick in the teeth.

"I was doing well, fitting in," Rodgers said. "I had already been sitting out when my high school career ended. I was ready to get back out there, ready to show people what I could do and then it's gone."

Admittedly not a vocal person, Rodgers said she became one so she could remain in the loop with her teammates during the lengthy rehab. The bigger the game was - Oklahoma, North Carolina, in particular - the harder it was for Rodgers to sit and watch. The rehab was also draining, particularly because so much scar tissue needed to be broken up. At times, the pain was intolerable.

Injured teammates Emery Wallace, Anjalé Barrett and Rodgers endured the process together, dubbing themselves "The Broken Knee Crew."

Rodgers was cleared to play late last summer but quickly found herself held back by what she assumed was fatigue from preseason workouts. But she became concerned when she couldn't keep food down, and the doctor confirmed she had a combination of strep throat and mono. That was Oct. 16 - the day before Midnight Madness.

"Midnight Madness is a really big deal here," she said. "The men's and women's teams do a really fun step routine. I was upset I was going to miss that. It was really hard. I didn't get to go. I was so sick. I went home."

Rodgers didn't have a full practice until Dec. 7. Nobody told her she'd get in against Loyola, but tipped off by the trainer, she had a good feeling she might get the chance to show what she could do that night.

"I'm obviously very proud of her hard work," Frese said. "For her to go out there and have such immediate success had to be a big boost. We always knew she was lethal from the 3-point line."

The question, said Frese, is whether Rodgers will still be able to drive to the basket as she did throughout her glorious high school career, when Princess Anne held a top-10 USA Today national ranking. Rodgers said re tearing the knee doesn't cause her to shy away, but pain on cold, rainy days and swelling after practice are still obstacles.

While a WNBA future doesn't excite her as much as overseas ball, Rodgers is equally enthused about a possible writing career she hopes to incorporate with music.

"I'd love to write for Rolling Stone or Blend," said Rodgers, an avid listener of rappers Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Lil' Wayne. "Even if I'm taking a two-second ride on my scooter to the dining hall I have to have my iPod on."

But foremost in Rodgers' mind is her intention of showing she's key to a guard-heavy Maryland team that expects to contend for a national title every year.

"I'm going to have to work on my dribble penetration game, being unafraid to go to the basket with my knee, not guarding it," Rodgers said. "I'm not looking to be a superstar or anything. If that comes, that's great. I'm going to do what I can to help my team."

Vicki L. Friedman, (757) 477-6874, VickiL120@cox.net