Number 3

WHITING.RAYIYIOND

BIlIIIGIIIG BISKETB
After giving birrh to her son in Mqrch, vcrl whiting'Roymond cqme io rhe Lynx fo resume her wNBA cqreer. By Dan Bell
hen the Minnesota LYnx traded for forward Val

"All the Lynx wanted to know was 'Whitinghow I was doing mentally''
Raymond said."They told me to use train-

things on my mind when

came to train-

Whiting-Raymond

on

draft day, they knew they were getttng more than just a forward. They were also getting

ing camp to get back into shaPe." Not only had she just given birth rwo
months prior to the start of training camp,

a family. On March 2,Whitin5Raymond

gave

ing camp." As it turned out, she neednt har'-e been too concerned. Lyn-r head coach Brian Agler slowly worked her into the preseason regimen and games. A1ier averaging 13.3
minutes per game in the first three preseason games,'Whitrng-Raynond sat out the

birth toJosephJerome Ra1'rnondJr, or "Btby J" as het called' "Everyone calls my husband J' so my son is 'Ba\ J', then he'll be'Little J,' "Whiting-Raymond said. When they made the trade, the LYnx were well aware that'Whitrng-Raymond
had given birth, and wouid need time to get

but Whiting-Raymond also sat out

2000'WNBA
season

the

for personal

reasons'

So, she had some concerns when she came

final game with a sprained ankle. But when

to the Lynx training camP. "This is such a high level of competition and itt like a cut-throat business - I was worried about not performing and getting

the season came, Whiting-Raymond

there

was

physically ready

for the

season,

but they

cutl' Whiting-Ra1'rnond

said. "Also,

theret

knew that would come with time and that her skills were worth rhe wait.

so many great young players out there and I'll be 30 in a year. So there were all those

- ready to go when the season tipped off. She has been a good low-post scorer and a consistent rebounder for the Lyn-x' Through the first four games - all starts Whiting-Raymond was averaging 23.8
minutes,7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds

sim-

LYNX TRAX . 4

ilar numbers to the 25.4 mpg,7.0 ppg **d

6.9 rpg she posted irr her most nce*t WNBA seasa* with the Detroit.Shock in
1999.

iag professionally in,It4ly. and praeil, Whiring-Raymnd'p1ayed. three years in the ABL and averaged 13,9 ppg and'7.1
rpg. Deqpite her. extensive baskeiball expe*

on the coult..I don't worry if I'.hada,good I dorrt'think *bout basketball; I think abcut my baby.l',
praetiee ar nof;
'

Shel put *p the kind of numbers,that

vrould indicats shes phlxically t'ack to where'she r,val lrefore srtting our a year and then giving bjrsh 'to Bab11'J:'But WhitingRalryrond kn+ws she still has a wa5n,to go.

rience, shei still fbeling her way with'her new coaching staffand teammate5.

,'il'm not there yeti'she lard.'1l'll starf orrt strong, then,,fll ,ger fired, sc'l'm not there yeL I have a long nay to go qonditioning*wise. I'm nof sure s,4ren I'm going to hir that point. tsut menulJy. I'm getting
there.

like a rcskie iathis syqtem," she said."l'm lealningthe defense and tryingto figure out what Brian wcnx of'rne as'a player. At rirncs. I'm a vet, but then other times. I feel like I'rn sdll tr)'rng ro get n)y

"l

feel

On the court,Wliti$g-Raymar:d is an to the Lynx'wlth her strang veteran 'presxce. Offtlr couqt, her stcryeertainlv should be iuspirational to.her 1'cung Lynx
asset

tearnnlates.

"They havc nradc so many sacri{ices to lie herej'Agler said. "I dont har,e anv second thoughts about the trede. Theret a
huge upside with har'ingYal on this team. It's easy tc rnodVate other pecple to lvork
hard when thcy see how dedrcatcdVal is."

fee.l

wel."

'

I rhink the'game

a,1o1but,Ilm'sti]I

getting ryy confidenee and tryiqg nct to be

Durrqg the early stages of her pregnancy, Whinng-Raynrondi plans were to leaye her son wii*r her husband for fiur rnonths While she played, basketball. Bat
that plan didn't lasr long.

Several monlhs a*er, eoming to

MinnesoNa, WJriling:Rnym*nd
career.

is

hagpy

thr court *rd.not gshing wlren lrm doing rldngs otlensivellr-'.' '. "
anxious on '\Vhiang-Raymond
brings a solid bas*

about hei decision to resrrme her basketball

''When I got more into my prcgnancy

and started'to feel him kick..I. became so axached.t' '

ketball resum6 '!o the lFax;

In

eallege,'she

'"This is a great situation for me,'1 she said. l'When I got' traded.here, people were
r9alfu- helpfid about.frnding.arcrib for rhe babx'.fi*dilrg davc*e,, trying ts get'J,out

was a two-fime Kcdak All.funeriean'and

J andBfu

J moved &cm Delaware tc

two=time Pac.L0 Col&reace, Flayer sf'the Year during her lour serson5 (1989-93) at
Stanford. She helped lead the Cardinal to
fu

ur cc:rsecutiys Pac-10 chatnpionship,qnd

1992,

to be with They arrived : 1ppro; Whiting-R-aymond. priately - on Mo*lsr's Day. ill felt'so ba1anced phelr they,got,here;" sfu ,said.
Minnesoa for the summer
I'Havingthemhere allom me toleave stufi'

her.e

Tlmberwoivei

'

* heh going to
e4nrps,

work'

the the

,Evelycne

in

whole lcqga4irario;r has been. really, awesott:e and I feel:realiy conrfor,table here:l ..

NCAA titles in t?90,and,

A*er play.

[[ $ffi $*$
',.',#st, -" .hsrdr|1'

Raymonil said ahout the awiual of her hushanil dnil

Cities. ttHauing thenn he:ye allows me : :; : ib" I iW,' i*',t the, . tgi*#., ", I " don't thinh ahout baskethall; think ahout my haW."
;;

'!'I' fett:'s*,*'afu ,'wh*'ikey ,,, :Y6I',,' ffltritittg.

son to the Twin

**'

TIIURSDAY

JAN.12, 2006

TheNel,Jburnal
WILMIN'J;TSN, DELUprlates and latest news

eo
t-{ ''L.)

www.delawarconline.com

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Whiting
honored for great career
Ursuline grad makes list of top 25 players
By KEVIN TRESOLINI
The News Journal

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When she left for Stanford University in 1989, Val Whiting was just 17 and not sure she was
ready

a) (t)

It wasn't the cross-country move that most worried the Wilmington resident, but the physicai demands of being a Division I college basketball player. terday," Whiting said Wednesday

()

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"I remember like it was vesscared out

They had given us these workouts to do during

I hadrft followed them. I thought I
the summe4 and

of my

"I

r".ras

mind.

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could play basketball every day Val Whiting to get ready and 1s6 Ursuline tnat wqs .mv to four state

gcing tirrough that flrst two-mile [running] test and being lapperl." Wliting got through that transition. She was named national fieshman of the year while heiping Stanford win an NCAA tille. The 6-foot-2 center went on to trecame a two-time All-Ameri-

lememtler

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can, win another NCAA crtwn a-s ajunio4 and set school scoring
and rebounding records,

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aa

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E*

Recrgnition of tha-t career

ca:ne Tuesday when Whiting, 33,

learneri she had been named to the NCAA iacmen's basketball :a5lj: a:rrtivetga.r:r' tea.tr by an
Sen WlllTll{G

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girls hanging around at that park, all

made up and their hair just so. So I'm thinking, "Those girls are so pretty, and here I am aII sweary and

my hair messed up. And that guy thinks I'm a man!"

All through high school and most

of college, my life was pretty much my studies and my basketball. I

didn't have a real boyfriend until I was a sophomore at Stanford. I didn't mind that so much, though, because basketball was kind of like a bofriend-something I loved and was totally absorbed in. Sometimes I regret not having had more of a social life when I was that age. Maybe I would have had more fun if I hadn't
been so obsessed

with basketball.

But I also know I would have regretted it if I hadn't played. I honestly believe I would have been successful no matter what I did because of the drive I got from my parents. But in terms of balance and self-esteem and personal empowerment, basketball has given me so much. And, being a pro player, I no

longer feel like an oddity-even

though some people may still raise
questions about an individual's femininity. I had to laugh. There was a story about me in the paper jpst before I had my baby, and someone said they were happy to learn I was
wasn

pregnant because that meant I t gay. I guess I coulo go out on

they want to think. Vol Whiting-Roymond, twenty-nine, grew up in Delowore. An oll-Americon bosketboll ployer ot don't know what I want to be privote girls' ocodemy in Wilmingicn, she loter siorred ot Stonford University (where she o degree in biologicol sciences with on eye on on eventuol medicol coreer), then ployed when I grow up. I mean, here I am, professionolly in Brozil, ltoly, lsroel, ond the United Stotes. She joined fie Minnesoln Lynx almost thirty years old, and I'm sdll

V"l Wl*los-RagmonJ *fu'*;#*lffi1JJ*r; o

eorned I
son.

eorlier this yeor, shortly ofter giving birth to her first child, o

f aia"', play any basketball until I was I cut fro* the cheerleading squad in the
At first, I found the game confusing and not much fun. (My first game I even scored once for the other teaml) Bur, every Saturday morning, my dad would work out with me at a park.
seventh grade.

Then, when
camps,

really staned to get inro it. Of course, I was big for a girl, about six-footrwo by the time I was in high schotrl, and that helped a lot, but it caused problems

began attending

summer

playrng a kid's gamel My husband and I go back and forth about my too. I remember being embarrassed by going to ttt.di."l school. Some days I my big feet and slouching down all the want to and some days I don't. In .the meantime, I have other things to keep me time so I wouldn't look so tall. I also worried that I wasn't feminine busy, such as my son and the Val S7hitenough. At the park with my dad I'd play ing Foundation for Girls and the basket'ball camps I run during the oflseason. against a lot of boys and men, and I remember, early on, making a strong move You ask if I see myself in those young on a guy and knocking him baclcward. girls I work with. I see the husde and drive He goq mad and said, "That's not a girl, I had at their age. But most of them seem that's a man!" I thought, "Gosh, aren't so much more comfortable with themgirls allowed to play hard?" To make selves than I was. They're tall, and they matters worse, there were always other hueitt
l

74 MPLS.ST.PAUL OCTOBER 2OOT

0n the rebound: UUhiting-Raymond finds hard going in the post (partum)

by Jayne Solinger
Last February, Val \Alhiting Raymond was nine months pregnant when she scribbled a list of goals. It went something like this: deliver a healthy baby, have a good recovery, and---oh yeseam a starting role on a WNBA team.

Raymohd had checked all the goals off her list. She gave birth to Joseph Jerome Raymond, |r. on March 2. On May 31, she started for the Minnesota Lpx in
the season opener against the Portland Fire.
She's found that reaching those goals, however, is only the firsistep in being the player she knows she can be.

Sprint up and down the court with world-class athletes? Abit more ambitious, than, say, deciding on wallpaper for the baby's room.

Only three months later, Irl/hiting-

Twenty-n ine-year-old WhitingRaymond, a 6-foot 2-inch forward, was acquired by the Lynx prior to haining camp to add some size and experience
in fha nno+
1 '14' MINNESOTA WOMEN'S PRESS' AUG.

2OO1

19

wHlllllc-RAYlllotlD, tRolti

'

throughout her Pregnancy' "I would do aerobics and non-

"I didn't know how much I was

soins to miss him until the
i'rorrEme.,t started and he started kicking and after he wbs bom I was h[e, 'I can't imagine leaving him."' josePh took PatemitY leave to ioin his wife in Minnesota, ani familY members have also helPed out with childcare' In

The toughest Part has been lowering her on-court ex? ectations.
national chamPionshiP teams at Stanford UniversitY (1990 and had 1992), Whiting-RaYmond in the played overseas and 'American League' In

contact stuffbut after a while I couldn't do muchbecause I started to get lower back Pahs' I shot, sometimes I PIaYed one on one with mY husband, but You know the bellY got in the waY after a while." Despite her difficulties in *oJkirr* out, she alwaYs Planned to'returi to basketball' "PeoPle /You're due in March

bad'game-and I've had a lot of bad games this season-it seems like it's easier to coPe with it
focused on the big Picture'"

because I can iust gohome to t.rim' It really keePs me balanced and

Through the first half of the

,"utott, which ends August

13,

addition, \{hiting-RaYmond stopped nursing her son after a

Whiting-RaYmond was averagr]lg almostlg minutes Per game,3'2 rebounds and 3.8 Points' V{hiting-RaYmond knows she's impanent. "PeoPle said,'don't *rn it, take it slow.' But when you want to PlaY, You want to

*"1t.

Basketball the ABL, she averaged 13'9 Points andT.1' rebounds Per game over three seasons' She had PlaYed one season in the \AINBA with the

were like, and when does training camP start? It's not gonna haPPen'"'

was so hard," she said' 'nVhen I decided not to nurse anYmore it was a big load off mY shoulders'" attends every home game' "Iiust think he's Perfect' He's amazing' I lust talk about him all the time, I
Baby I, as theY call their son,.

"t didn't know [nursingl

Detroit Shock, averaging 6'5 points and 6.7 rebounds during the 1999
campaign. The LYnx sent a 2002 drafi piik to the Shock in exchange for 1A/iiting-Raymond in late April'
The Ltmx were aware that Whit-

Labor was induced two weeks earlv to allow \ fhiting-RaYmond some extra time to get in shaPe; she was working out a week after deliverY. \ /hen the LYnx oPened

wonder if PeoPle on mY team are

oluu, uo,r'." an athlete, Yo-q want io d" t"t there' Inside You wish vou could rePresent Yourself tetter. MaYbe this is the first time oeople have ever seen me PIaY,

training camP in earlY MaY,

'

ing-Raymond had delivered her toi otiy *u"ks before' "We knew what kind of PlaYer she'd been," said Lynx coach and general *ut*g"t Brian Agler' "We hoPed that down the road she could give
us qualitY minutes."

Whiting-RaYmond was there' Butworking out and regaining playing shaPe are two different it'ritrgt. Sn" gained 40 pounds- .,

tired of hearing about him because I iust talk, talk, talk about him. Like Yesterd4Yl came to practice all excited, You know' iguUy was talking in his sleeP!' J and everybodY's iust looking at
me, Iike, 'and.-.?"'

ina, y"" know, this is not me'" Despite disaPPointment with her
oerformance on the court, Wftiti"g-Ruy^ond said her Preseason list of goals remind her how far she's come. 'll've gotten all those goals so far, and-[realizing that] helPed me Put things inlo persPective, and to not be so hard on mYself." There's orre more goal \A/hiting-

duriirg her PregnancY, and while most if thai weight has come off, her bodY still feels unfamiliar to
her.

A number of WNBA PlaYers, such as Sheryl SwooPes of the Houston Comets and OlYmPia
Scott-Richardson of the Indiana Fever, have made successful comebacks after giving birth' \A/hiting-Raymond said she's leaned heavilY on advice from Scott-Richardson. "She's the one

But \Atrhiting-Raymcind's road back to r,r'as complicated by her decision last season. sit out "I iust took a bteak, I needed some

time off for mYself," she said' "l was a little burned out from basketball." she was working out with a personal coach and had ' madb i decision to retum when she found out she was Pregnant' It was a surPrise' "I.alwaYs thought Iwas going to PlaY basketball and thenbe finished and have children," she said' She took the news in stride, however' "It was kind of great because I had a ihhnctifobittdck and t.hink about more imPortant things besides basketball."

"The hardest thing is the weight eain and then not having the Explosiveness, Plus I didn't PlaY foi a year, so I'm still out of sync," she said. '/It's been uP and down' I'm used to playing at a certain level' You

Raymond would like td reach' "l'm used to being doubleteamed. Now, I'm not drawing thr double team,because I'm not really showing that I can do
.

knbwwhat You're ioin

said.
g

caPable of

in

I've talked to the most about how I handle things."

The toughest Part, she said, has been lo'ierin[ her expectations of herself as a basketball PlaYer' "l've alwaYs had such high expeciations for me in basketball' The mother thing, I'm not saYrng it's easy, it's great, it's fun, I just love him so rnuch- liustdidnrt expect to feel this much lowe for

anvtlhing when I get the ball," she

,uid. "FJ. ine that's a big insult'"

vour mind but Your bodY's not

it," \'rlhiting-RaYmond

.Not everYthing has gone according to Plin with the baby, either' tnu t"* mother intended to leave him with her husband,
|oseph, on the East Coast she plaYed the WNBA season' but earlY ory theY knew that

Bv season's end, she hoPes to have picked uP her PlaY to the point where oPPonents have no .hoi." but to double-team her' "That will shornr me that I'm finallY getting back to mY game'" The Minnesota LYnx remaining homt games are August 3, 5 and 12 at
Target Center in MinneaPolis' For infoimation call 61 2-673'8400'

while

him. "It's awesome' Like if I have a

wouldn't work.

w
W
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VAL \ffHITING-RAYMOND: Filling Many Roles

By Jennifer Carnahan

or Minnesota Lynx forward Val 'Whiting-Raymond, work

the

day doesn't come to a conclusion when

offthe hardwood.After the 62 forward heads home from the arena,

she steps

she spends her time being a parent.

During this pa;t ofteason, on March 2 to be $ifu, WhitingRaymond and her

became the proud
.foseph,

pound, eieven-ounq$:ir$!$$ii$
Raymond Jr. rrurlu Jr.
.t:llr]:ii

:il:r].ililila];

"Everyone asks:$f,ffi**

an athlete," said \V
don't want to press sports. I.1ust want bi

Happiness is1:
abounds

in

the

,:

household. Succes$i

mer Stanford
the
199

,liii;i !',,SI"NBA'a$d
rla.,:*1"

mother

W,hirins-Ravmond

o.ai.rt"r.tot *a

some of
Swoopes and O

have had children comeback."

ful

"They did it;there was That hope and ha

yer. phllanthroplst, asplrlng

Whiting-Raymond
roster this season.

her newly acquired role of

r.

MAtrn(DNAil,

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L99O

NATIONAL COLLEGIATE
Division I

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Particinant,

gets back

inWI\BA
By KEVIN TRESOLIIII
Stall reporter

tfn" bffi, Urencame the rebirth' **rio*t -Vat

2001

WASHINGT0N-Firstcame

wttitin g-RaYmond' has featured two labors or

March 2, her and husband frrsf ctrild, son Joseph, was

love.

'"'iin

"lavt born. ""^'iito

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TUESDAY JUNE 26,

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THE NEWS

JOURNAL C3

U/liiting: Geffing backinto form

FROM PAGE C1

U.S. Olympic gold-medal team,

She's done really well, especially considering she just had a child March 2. "I"Ier impact and her influ* ence is r,eally important for us. Her motherly instincts that have come to the folefront.really carry over onto the team. I think she's taken some of that fieadershipl burden off Katie Smith." Smith, a rnember of the 2000

departments. They do plan to keep their Wilmington home,

Lynx' also features fo"rmer

mate.

Ieads tlre WhIBA

in scoring. The

APNICKWASS That iqcludes starting the country to Washington to play Whiting Foundation, which Minnesota's Val Whiting-Raymond (52), a former Ursuline Academy the Mystics Monday night. raises funds for AIDS research. star, had six points and two rebounds in the Lynx's 55-51 win over They'Il go back to Minnesota After completing her All- theWashington Mystics on MonSay night. this morning. Two late-season America career at Stanford in

''f feel like I've known her f,or long," said Brunson, who will While Val practices, plays be a freshman at Hofstra this and travels, Jay Raymond stays fall. "suddenly, there she is playhome with their son. Some of ing in the WNBA. I'm so happy her trips are whirlwinds. everything has gone well for her Thelynx played at home F?i- because shes done so much for day night, then at Utah Saturday people back home."
so

ing-Raymond said, knowing she r.ounds into better physical and playing shape each day

'A lot of pbople look up to "I really like my new team," heB'l 5"i4 Wilmiheton resident Whiting"Raymond said. Elaine Brunson, sitting nearby wouldn't mind playing here for Watching from behind the a long time." Lynx bench was her daughte4 Delaware fans also can see Bianka Brunson, who recently Whiting-Raymond play in New completed her All-State basketYork against the Liberty onJuly ball career at Mount Pleasant 13. The 32-game WNBA season High. Brunson, 17, has known began in late May and only lasts lVhitlng.Raymond since she through mid-Awust, followed was 9, having played in her by playoffs. Wilmington-based summer "I wish it were longe4" Whit- league and attenddd her basketball camps.

UConn star Svetlana Abrosi. mova and Kate Paye, WhitingRaymond's ex-Stanford team-

Val's sister, Kristina, had planned to attend Monday's game but was nearingthe birth qf her first child. "I give Val a lot of credit for what she's done," said Reggie Whiting as he prepared to see his daglhter play for the second time in person this year, the other on May 31,at Portland. "I was hoping she'd wait a little longer to go.back. I hope it doesn't hurt her [to come back before being tOOpercent physicallyl.
She was determined."

though.

night before traveling cross-

Western swings will keep Whiting-Raymond away from home

1993,

almosta week each time.

he's Uke, 'Well, you realize you mer job, either. are a mother and a wif and There she was Monday playdon't define yourself by your ing in a packed arena with a nalbasketbalU performance.' That tional TV audience looking in, makes me feel good." her original post-collegiate Jay Raymond, who met his plans to attend medical school wife, naturalb, on a basketball still on hold. "I think we take this for court, is a Concord High graduatew'ho works attlre New Casfl granted sometimes, but then I'lI County Detbntion Center when see the commercials on TV or they're at their home in WiIm- the people waiting outside the ington. Val's parents, Claudette arena to get in," she sai.d.. "It's and Reggie ane in the process of amazing how far women's basmoving to Seattle after.taking ketball has come." jobs with Microsoft's respective )Beach l(evin lresolini at 324-2807 0r hurian rsources and finahcial ktlesolini@delawareonline.com.

$50,000, with a veteran's miniiJay's been awesome. If I mum of $35,000. It's not NBA played like crap and I call him, rnoney but it's not bad for a sum-

mond said, "especially when sional opportunity beginning in you come horne tired ftom prac- 1996. When it folded in 1999, she tice and games. We're a physical movedtotheWNBA. team and we have hard pracThe average WNBA salary is
tices.

"It's hard," Whiting-Ray- provided a domestic profes-

A'merican Basketball League

ally in ltaly and Brazil. The

Whiting played profession-