It’s been over a decade or so, since the WNBA came to town in 1999, that former collegiate women hoopsters could be seen competing against each other in the summertime around these parts.
The Minnesota Jaguars or “The Jags” is the newest entry in the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League (WBCBL), a semi-pro women’s league founded in 2000 by Willie McCray in Dallas, Texas. “It started out as a league just for women here in Texas,” explains WBCBL Commissioner Brian Hopgood during a recent phone interview.
Hopgood and McCray, both of whom are Black, are in charge of a league in which 70 percent of its owners (there are 56 teams) and 70 percent of its players are Black.
There are countless places to males to get their hoop on. If they want to get seen by scouts, there’s still the Howard Pulley Pro-Am. But for females, such places aren’t as plentiful. This is where the WBCBL comes in.
“You see so many men’s and young boys’ basketball programs but not many things for the girls,” confirms Greg Bridges, high school girls’ basketball coach and Rock County (Wisconsin) Robins owner.
According to the WBCBL’s web site, its mission is to provide highly competitive basketball for women ages 20 and older, but Hopgood notes, “The main purpose of this league is built on Christian values, good play, camaraderie and to promote women’s basketball.”
Jenna Smith, the 2010 University of Illinois student-athlete and a 2010 second-round pick of Washington last year, plays for the local Jags, practicing twice a week and playing two games almost every weekend. “Everybody still loves the game so much,” she says. “You keep playing at an elite level and get one percent better every day.
“After I got drafted [and later released], I went back to college and rehabbed my knees because they were so sore and so bad from [playing],” continues Smith, who starred at Bloomington Kennedy and Illinois. After she underwent a surgical procedure “to take pressure off my knees” and stayed off them for eight weeks, “I took care of my body, got back in shape and then I went to France [to play] until Christmas. It was real competitive. After Christmas I went to [Russia].”
“There is a lot of basketball talent here in Minnesota, and a lot of us played against each other in high school, so I started getting girls together up here,” says former local prep and college standout Tanisha Gilbert. She and Tamara Moore are the Jags’ co-captains. “I’m looking for an opportunity to either go overseas or to showcase my talents in the WNBA, whichever comes first,” admits Gilbert.
“I thought this might be a good stepping stone for me” to get back in the WNBA, where she hasn’t played since 2008, says Moore, the Minneapolis North and Wisconsin graduate and 2002 WNBA first round pick.
The Minnesota WBCBL “expansion” club plays the three other teams in their Mid West division: Kansas Nuggets, Rock County Robins, and St. Louis Surge.
His operating expenses include gym rental fees and insurance, admits Bridges, the Robins owner. “You can easily spend up to $10,000 a year,” he says, adding he also covers all travel and meal expenses for the players.
“We have 40-50 players go overseas each year,” boasts Hopwood. “We have agents and teams call us on a daily basis.”
Smith plans to head back overseas this fall but is unsure where as yet. “I leave it up to my agent. Wherever the money is, just show me and I will have a good time,” she says smiling.
Since the 12-team WNBA only has 11-player rosters, there’s a abundance of female talent looking to play someplace. Could the WBCBL one day become the women’s NBA D-League?
Hopgood responds, “We would love to do that, but we have to make sure that we do what we do and we do it well before someone like the WNBA take us on. I really believe that in order for women’s [pro] basketball to strive in North America that we need to embrace that type of farm system.”
Minnesota’s next home game at Concordia University’s Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul will be June 25 and 26 at 2 pm each day.
“I think [the WBCBL] is good competition for our team,” concludes Moore. “I hope that people can come and recognize what this is all about — an opportunity for girls who might not make it to the WNBA [but] have skills to somewhere continue their careers.”
Historic first
Sunday’s Minnesota-Los Angeles game had the highest non-kids’ day attendance (10,123) since June 4, 2005 vs. now-defunct Charlotte (10,974). But more importantly: a first-ever Lynx game that this reporter was joined by six other Blacks sitting in media row.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.
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