Shaw liked what she saw, commits to Green Bay

A picture is worth 1,000 words … and sometimes just one.

So before Warren senior Lory Shaw verbally committed to play Division I basketball for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Tuesday night, she electronically committed.

She faxed Phoenix coach Matt Bollant.

Actually, she simply replied to his fax.

UW-Green Bay, Shaw says, had sent a fax in her attention to Warren.

"It said, 'Raise your hand if you want Lory Shaw at Green Bay,' " Shaw explained. "(The fax) got pictures off our (team) Web site and there's a picture of me holding the ball above my head. There's a picture of our whole team with our hands in (the air), a picture of their team with their hands in (the air), and a picture of their Phoenix (mascot) with her hands up."

Shaw's parents, John and Gwen, then had what she called a "dorky" idea, but she ran with it. Shaw and her parents took a picture of themselves holding their hands up and sent it back to Bollant.

That's a tacit "Yes."

"He got it (Tuesday) night and he called me right after he got it," Shaw said of first-year coach Bollant, whose team is 10-3, including 2-0 in the Horizon League. The Phoenix was 29-4 last season under Kevin Borseth, who left to take the head-coaching job at Michigan.

In accepting UW-Green Bay's full scholarship offer, Shaw turned down Southern Illinois (Carbondale), which also offered her a full ride, she said.

"It's exciting," Shaw said. "It's nice to get it off my brain. That's all I've been thinking about."

A three-year varsity player for Warren, the 6-foot-2 Shaw is having a breakout season in her first as a starter, averaging 10 points per game for the 17-1 Blue Devils. She played AAU basketball for the Illinois Hustle last summer, and heading into the high school season Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz called her probably the most improved player on his team.

She chose UW-Green Bay, in part, she says, because of its relative proximity to Gurnee (2½-3-hour drive).

"I want my parents to be able to see me whenever they can," she said. (UW-Green Bay) plays a few schools in the city, and a lot of the schools are within 2-3 hours of Gurnee."

Shaw is also excited about the Phoenix's new arena and its loyal fans.

"They have over 1,000 season-ticket holders and they have over 2,000 fans at every game," Shaw said. "Their fan base is amazing."