North Carolina State University Athletics
Summer Erb To Make WNBA Debut
5/31/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
For Summer Erb, the transition from college senior to WNBA rookie has sometimes been about as smooth as a cobblestone highway. The broken foot that caused Erb to miss seven games late in her senior season at NC State has also continued to be a problem during her first WNBA training camp.
The first round draft pick of the Charlotte Sting missed all four of the team's preseason exhibition games and, in fact, she didn't receive medical clearance to start practicing until last week. Still, Erb will see some playing time when the Sting opens its regular season at Orlando on Thursday, June 1.
"She's been back with us for about a week now and she's been doing a good job," said Sting head coach T.R. Dunn. "She will play, it's just hard to say how much. I don't want to put a number on it in terms of minutes, but I feel very confident with her in the game."
After winning ACC Player of the Year honors following the 1998-99 season, Erb was well on her way to a repeat performance before breaking three bones in her left foot in a game against North Carolina on February 3. She returned just in time for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but her presence wasn't enough to put the Wolfpack over the top against SMU.
On April 25, Charlotte selected Erb with the eleventh pick in the first round of the WNBA Draft. Since then it's been an uphill battle for the 6'6 center, who was forced to wear a specially built boot to expedite the healing process in her foot.
The decision to give Erb full medical clearance didn't come until after the Sting had completed its exhibition schedule.
"It definitely helps when you can play your young players in exhibition games and get them some real game experience," Dunn said. "It helps us from an evaluation standpoint and it helps the player because that's something they have to go through to get some real game experience. But the situation was what it was. She was out because we wanted to give that injury some more healing time. But she's coming along very well and we're pleased with the limited practice time that she's had."
On the college level, very few teams had an answer for Erb's combination of size and strength. Dunn is hopeful she'll be able to provide the Sting with that same type of low post presence.
"She's a very intelligent young lady and she plays with a lot of poise," he said. "She has talent and she has the ability to score in the post. She has a presence because of her size and strength. We feel with some playing time and the process you need to go through to get some experience, she's going to be a fine prospect for a long time."
