College basketball? Warren's Shaw will wear it well

Depending on which day it is, Lory Shaw can be either a role model, a pick-and-roll model or a fashion model.

She's got the makeup to be all three, that's for sure -- and likely the makeup, too.

The senior has sparkled in Warren's white on the basketball court this winter, and last August she sparkled in another white.

An aspiring model, Shaw, 6 feet 2, blond and bubbly, took playing dress-up to maybe its highest level. She was asked, "Do you want to participate in an Ann Taylor bridal show in downtown Chicago?"

She said, "I do."

"I got to wear three wedding dresses," Shaw said, smiling proudly. "I was the only one in the whole show that got to wear a wedding dress. Everybody was envious of me."

The year before, Shaw vied to become Miss Illinois Teen USA, the only pageant she's ever participated in. She was one of about 180 girls in the contest, she says, and didn't make the cut.

"They (select) only the top 15, so we like to say I was 16th," Shaw said, smiling again.

That's Lory's story and she's sticking to it. Heck, what girl wouldn't envy her? She's also smart and athletic -- qualities that helped her secure a Division I basketball scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She gave a verbal commitment to Phoenix head coach Matt Bollant this week.

A year ago, the opportunity for Shaw to play D-I basketball didn't necessarily seem likely. Never mind that her older brothers John and Scott were both three-sport athletes at Warren (golf, basketball, baseball) and continued athletics after high school. John is an assistant golf pro at world-famous Kapalua in Maui (also known as paradise), and Scott is playing baseball on scholarship at Illinois.

Lory is the youngest of three children of John, a salesman, and Gwen, a computer instructor.

While Lory had earned a varsity roster spot on Warren's basketball team two years ago, she came off the bench her sophomore and junior seasons, never scoring double figures in a game.

This season, different story for Lory.

She came into her senior year as probably the Blue Devils' most improved player, and she showed it in Warren's second game. She scored 15 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a win over Bogan.

Shaw heads into Saturday's game at Lake Forest averaging 10 points per game, with a high of 19, for the 17-1 Blue Devils.

"I've noticed from the summer just her improvement in her aggressiveness," Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said. "She's using her athleticism to offensive rebound very well … She was never a player that showed much interest in facing the basket and putting the ball on the floor to attack the rim. She does that very well now."

Shaw's improvement as a basketball player took off last summer. She played AAU ball for the Illinois Hustle and also worked with Stanczykiewicz and assistant coach Demetri Georgatsos.

"Both 'G' and 'Stan' worked with me really hard over the summer," Shaw said. "They worked with my shot, my quickness and stuff like that."

Then at the beginning of the school year, Shaw started working out at a sports performance facility in Deerfield along with teammates Sarah Boothe, Shana Shepherd, Erin Norwood and Joree Green.

Shaw has noticed she's physically stronger, and that's paid off on the basketball court.

"It's given me a lot more confidence because now I have more arm strength," she said. "I can shoot from farther out, I can shoot more."

During her busy basketball summer, Shaw also found time to graduate from a modeling school in Schaumburg.

"I'm just finishing getting the first pictures done to send out to agencies," she said. "I'm going to get those cards done. They've got like a head shot on the front and four pictures on the back with your stats -- like your height, weight.

A Lory Shaw trading card?

Bet there are a lot of young girls who would want one of those.