North Carolina State University Athletics
To Our Seniors, Thank You
4/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
April 1, 2004
Four Paths
By Pat Norris, NC State Media Relations
Four players played their last game as an active member of the Wolfpack family and they did so fittingly, marking an end to different journeys that define the multiple paths a student-athlete can take. NC State celebrated the contributions of these remarkable women with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Four players, each arriving at NC State with an idea on how their career would unfold, and each ending a career that has been anything but scripted around a four year plan.
Kaayla Chones came to NC State from Ohio with the task of taking over at center with the graduation of 6-6 center Summer Erb, and will end her career after five years.
Five years was the magic number for Terah James as well, as she arrived from Florida to become the first freshman starting point guard since Jennifer Howard in 1993.
Alvine Mendeng has played basketball for about eight years now, and after a little over a year of playing for NC State, this native of Douala, Cameroon has been a versatile weapon.
Nanna Rivers decided to stay in state and run with the Wolfpack out of Wilmington, and after being recruited to back up James at the point, was thrust into the lineup due to injuries.
The four seniors have traveled four unique paths to get to this point, and as they play their last season for the Wolfpack, the four are focused on their team and their lives as senior student-athletes at the end of their college careers.
Let's start with the "normal" path of a student athlete as defined by Nanna Rivers. Rivers came to Raleigh as a freshman in the 2000-01 season, ready to learn a year under a sophomore point guard before expanding her role and eventually taking over the point for the Wolfpack team. That role changed quickly, as the incumbent sophomore, Terah James, tore an ACL for the second straight season.
"My freshman year was the year that Terah sat out," Rivers explained. "Just looking at her on the bench and knowing how much she loved the game and wanted to be playing helped me. I took advantage of the fact that I was out there playing and I decided to never take any minute of playing time for granted. I knew that in a moment I could be where she was, on the bench watching."
Rivers has enjoyed a productive career, and is leading the team in assists this season and has over 200 for her career. As the lone captain on a team with six newcomers, Rivers uses an approach as the vocal leader, often yelling and celebrating with and for her teammates.
"The team picked me as captain," Rivers stated. "I know if I don't do it that we would have other seniors that could do it. They picked me and I try my best to carry that out as much as possible."
While Rivers was thrust into the spotlight, another from the class of 2004 was expecting to go out with the class of 2003 when James arrived on campus in 1999. After a brilliant rookie campaign that saw the 5-8 guard dish out 112 assists and average 7.9 ppg, James would face her first set back, a torn ACL in her right knee in March of 2000.
After recovering and working her way back into game shape, James tore her other ACL in the first game of the season, a devastating blow for one knee injury, but two in back to back years? James would respond to the adversity while growing as a person and player as a result.
"Since I've been hurt, I think my game has changed and I have a better jumpshot, but I'm not as fast as I used to be," James admitted. "Mentally it helped me, because I'm more patient and I understand that there is more to life than just basketball now."
While James sat out the 2000-01 season, she wasn't alone on the bench in street clothes. Chones sat next to her that year, recovering from a torn quadriceps muscle after an All-ACC freshman campaign the year before averaging 11 points and eight boards a contest. She responded over the next two seasons, earning second team All-ACC honors and has recently joined an elite club during her senior season as one of only seven Wolfpack players to score over 1,000 points and grab 800 rebounds in a career. Chones leads NC State in scoring and rebounding this season, and like James, learned from having to redshirt a year due to injury.
"The whole experience taught me to be patient and it has improved my court awareness and my appreciation for basketball," Chones said. "When you are sitting out you see every little detail of the game that you can miss when you are playing. I've played basketball since I was four or five years old, and to stop playing completely for a season helped me grow as a person and improve my game."
While the above three seniors have indeed struggled through injuries and battled for playing time while realizing important life lessons, perhaps no one story can top that of the fourth senior, Mendeng. She is from Cameroon in Africa and started playing basketball because a track coach noticed how tall she was. She attended Dayton Christian Academy in Ohio, leaving behind her family and life in Africa. She enrolled at Kentucky before transferring to NC State. Mendeng often wonders if she would be a better player had she came straight to NC State out of high school.
"Everything would be totally different if I came here first," Mendeng remarked. "I know if I had that one year back I would be a much better player. I could contribute more each and every day to help my team."
Mendeng saw her parents for the first time in over five years this summer, and has enjoyed her time as a senior with the Wolfpack and as a role model for the younger players.
"The freshmen that play the same position as me know that they can come and ask questions or can come to me for help because they look up to me."
Most players look up to the 6-1, strong, athletic Mendeng, a player that Rivers described as a "beast" and Chones, at 6-3 and a force in the low post, touted as a "workhorse".
These four players have created a legacy with their play and the roles they have filled, be it as leaders, basketball players, role models, students or as players in the game of life. One thing is for sure about these four players. People from different backgrounds will travel different paths and lead different lives, and, in the end, they come together as friends and teammates to close their careers together, as seniors with Wolfpack Women's basketball.
