Posted on April 5, 2007
James Madison senior center Meredith Alexis shined in the 2006-07 basketball season as CAA Player of the Year, and looks to take her game to the next level as she awaits her opportunity to play in the WNBA.
Alexis was recently invited to participate in the WNBA Pre-Draft Camp in Cleveland, an event that took place Friday, March 30-31. The WNBA draft was held in the same city April 1.
Alexis said the Pre-Draft Camp experience was laid back at times, but still carried a sense of importance. Duke senior point guard Lindsey Harding, 2007 Naismith Trophy Women’s College Player of the Year, was among Alexis’ competitors at the pre-draft camp.
“All the coaches and everybody that ran the camp just tried to make it as smooth as possible,” Alexis said. “Playing-wise it was actually pretty intense. Everybody was going after each other and stuff like that, but it was cool.”
Alexis was aware that scouts were watching her midway through the season. Head Coach Kenny Brooks told her what she needed to do to improve her stock.
“We talked about the little things she needed to do to impress the scouts,” Brooks said.
“She has great size, she scores underneath the basket and she rebounds, but it’s the intangibles that make her so important.”
When Alexis received an invitation to pre-draft camp, she trained individually with Brooks for nearly a week and a half. Assistant Coach Jackie Smith also helped Alexis prepare for the camp.
“[Brooks] brought in Coach Smith for a couple days,” Alexis said. “She would play defense against me and I would play defense against her. It was a good time and she was really encouraging.”
As grueling as this whole process has been, this is only the beginning. Alexis still has to pick an agent. As soon as the Dukes were eliminated from the NCAA tournament, she started getting phone calls.
“It’s difficult, it’s like recruiting all over again,” Alexis said. “I’m really close with my coaches down here, and I want to find an agent who I can have that same experience with.”
The WNBA Draft began yesterday at 1 p.m., and was the 11th in WNBA history. Alexis was not selected, but is hopeful that she can pursue her professional aspirations by participating in a preseason camp with one of the 13 WNBA teams.
About six players join the roster of 12 players on each team at their respective preseason camps. The players and invitees compete for 12 spots on the regular season roster.
The WNBA regular season runs from May to late August, and consists of 34 regular season games. The four teams in each conference with the best winning records make it to the WNBA playoffs, which take place in September.
Regular season play begins May 19, and represents the start of the second decade of WNBA basketball.
