Prince took risks in career, and Sky might reap rewards

What an interesting phenomena Epiphanny Prince is.

The Chicago Sky's first round pick in Thursday's WNBA draft will be a rookie who has already been a pro. A veteran rookie, if you will.

She's the first American-born female basketball player of her kind.

Prince, a 5-foot-9 guard from New York who made headlines in high school when she broke the national scoring record by rolling up 113 points in a single game, would have been a senior at Rutgers last season. But she decided to forgo her final year of eligibility so she could play professionally overseas.

No player from the U.S. had ever done that before.

Prince's motivation?

Money.

But not in the way you might think.

Prince's family lives in a Brooklyn housing project and she would like to buy her parents their own home.

Reportedly offered contracts from European, Chinese and Japanese teams that promised no lower than $275,000 a season before bonuses, which is an unusually high payout for a female player, Prince made the decision to leave Rutgers so she could start bringing in some serious money for her family.

"I had to do what's best for me and my family," said Prince, who played for two teams this winter, one in Russia and one in Turkey.

And yet despite the financial promise of the overseas market, leaving college wasn't a no-brainer for Prince.

She was only a handful of credits away from graduating from Rutgers with a double major in criminal justice and African-American studies. Her mother had really wanted her to get a college degree.

Plus, leaving meant prematurely parting ways with Rutgers head coach Vivian Stringer, who was much more than a basketball mentor to Prince.

"It was very hard for me," Prince said. "Coach Stringer was like my second mother and I felt like Rutgers was my second family, so it was like I was leaving one family to help the other family. It was tough for me because Coach Stringer has always been there for me. She was someone I loved and really cared about."

According to Prince, Stringer understood her decision but was not completely happy about it. She worried that Prince might be making a mistake.

Could leaving one of the best college programs in the country actually hurt Prince's game? Could she become a better player, a WNBA-ready player, for a coach and a team she knew nothing about?

Prince actually had some of the same worries herself. But her fears were quickly eased.

She transitioned seamlessly, first in Russia while playing with Sky center Sylvia Fowles and now in Turkey, where she is teammates with Sky center Courtney Paris.

Prince is averaging more than 19 points per game for her team in Turkey. Her season there will last several more weeks.

"When I got here (overseas), I found myself on the court with people like (WNBA star) Diana Taurasi and Sylvia Fowles and they were teaching me about the game and showing me things I could do to get better," Prince said. "That's when I knew going over here was the right choice for me as a player."

Most WNBA coaches and general managers tend to agree. That's why Prince was snapped up by the Sky with the No. 4 overall pick.

"We kind of feel like we got a steal," Sky president Margaret Stender said. "We were worried she wouldn't be there at No. 4, so we were trying to figure out some creative ways we could get her earlier. We were thrilled she was still available and that we got her."

Prince likely would have been a high pick if she had stayed in college. But she probably improved her stock while overseas by showing a maturity to play the pro game and by diversifying her skills.

A true shooting and scoring guard in high school and college, Prince played a lot of point guard this winter.

"She did a lot to improve her game," Sky coach and general manager Steven Key said of Prince. "Leaving college early might not be right for everyone and there's some risk there. You're leaving the security of a scholarship, you're not getting a degree. And clubs over there go bankrupt all the time, so you can't just always look at it for the money.

"But for Epiphanny, this all worked out, and it certainly didn't hurt her that she got a year of pro experience. We really like that. We think she's going to fit in here just fine."

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