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Teasley Senses no fear, plots big UNC season
It started as kind of a joke.
A group of Washington, D.C., area college basketball stars descended on a local high school gym a few years ago during the offseason.
Wake Forest�s Randolph Childress, UCLA�s Cameron Dollar, and several other hardwood wizards were arranging teams for a pickup game at St. John�s at Prospect Hall High chool, and suddenly there was a buzz in the gym because a girl actually wanted to play.
This wasn�t just any girl, of course. This was St. John�s junior Nikki Teasley, a 6-foot whirlwind of arms and legs and spectaculars passes and unbelievable shots.
So sure, the boys decided to let her play. One less player to worry about, they likely though.
First possession, Teasley blows by Childress like he was Casper the Ghost.
Second possession, Teasley again uses Childress.
Third possession�
�Man, it was one of the most awesome things I�ve ever seen,� recalled David Owens, St John�s athletics director and one of the game�s witnesses. �After the third time she took him to the hole, Randolph took the ball, slammed it down, and walked out of the gym muttering and cursing.
�He refused to come back and play.�
After a little prodding, the bubbly Teasley admits that yes, she really did school one of the best guards in ACC history.
�I just ate him up that day,� she laughed. �I think they all knew I could play, but after that day they really knew a girl could keep up with them.�
Since, there have been precious few folks who have kept up with Teasley, now a sophomore on North Carolina�s seventh-ranked women�s team.
After winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year award last year by averaging 12.9 points and leading the league in assists with 5.5 per game, the dazzling Teasley has raised her game even more this season. Going into tonight�s showdown with Duke at Carmichael Auditorium, Teasley is fifth in the conference in scoring (15.5), second in assists (5.3), and leads the league in steals with 62.
�There�s really no other point guard like her,� said Virginia coach Debbie Ryan. �She�s got great quickness, she can see over the defense, and she can kill you with outside shots.�
�There�s no way to defend her.�
Like her hero Allen Iverson, the 19-year-old Teasley possesses a homicidal cross-over dribble, a flair for the dramatic, and an unwavering belief in herself.
�I really don�t think anyone can stop me one on one,� she said. �The best they can do is force me to give up the ball, but that�s fine with me because making a great pass is better than scoring.�
�It�s funny,� Teasley continued, �but (UNC) Coach Hatchell is always telling people that I�d rather make a great pass than eat. She happens to be right.
Growing up in Frederick, Md., Teasley was introduced to basketball by her four brothers. By the time she was 10, Teasley said, she had beaten her brothers so often that �they goat a little sick of playing me.�
While at St. John�s Teasley developed into one of the best prep players in the nation. She was named Parade Magazine�s girls player of the year as a senior, and was Gatorade�s Maryland player of the year for three consecutive years.
�We had every women�s coach in the country beating down our doors her senior year,� Owens said.Teasley said she spurned Vanderbilt, Penn State, and the other schools after her because she loved Carolina�s campus and �the way everybody on the team go along with Coach Hatchell, and each other.�
For her part, Hatchell said she�s very pleased with her point guard�s progress.
�Nikki has really stepped into being a leader this year, particularly when she�s struggling with her shot,� UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. �When he had a bad game against Virginia last week, she still made some terrific pass and played strong defense.�
Perhaps most striking about the way Teasley plays is her unpredictability. She almost never makes the same move on a defender twice, and always seems to be improvising on the move.
�I�ve always just played on instinct; if I try to think too much I mess up,� Teasley said.
Just like every other area of her life, Teasley is quietly confident about her future.
It includes leading the Tar Heels past Duke tonight, then guiding UNC to the Final Four, followed by a WNBA career a few years down the road.
And finally, this drama major said she�s got a couple of films in her, too.
�I�m going to direct and star in my own basketball movie; I�ll probably call it She�s Got Gam,� Teasley said. �People sometimes ask me why I�m so confident in my abilities.�
�I just tell them, it�s easy to be confident when you don�t fear anything.�
�And I really have no fear.�
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