By Brian Martin, WNBA.com

When WNBA President Donna Orender said the words, “With the eighth pick in the 2007 WNBA draft, the Houston Comets select Ashley Shields,” she completed Shields' long, winding road to becoming a professional basketball player.

Her path began as many do, with Shields dominating as a high school player, averaging 33.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game as a senior at Melrose High School in Memphis in 2003. She was recruited to play at the University of Memphis.

However, she was ruled academically ineligible before ever playing for the Lady Tigers. This was the first obstacle Shields was to face over the next few years.

Prior to playing again the following season, Shields learned she was pregnant. She left Memphis and enrolled at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where she would be eligible to play in the second semester of the season. Shields only played in six games at Northwest before her coach realized she was playing while she was eight months pregnant. She still averaged 13.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists for Northwest.

"At first it [playing while pregnant] was a problem with my dad and mom. They weren't going to let me play at first, but I begged them, this is something I want so much,” Shields said. “I kept it from my coach. The only people that knew were my family. It was kind of tough for them watching me; I was taking charges and they would turn their heads. It was just so difficult, but I wasn't in any pain, I wasn't hurting. Before I went on the court, I would just pray and play like I wasn’t pregnant. I wasn't even thinking about it, it wasn't on my mind and I was still playing well."

Shields gave birth to her son, Christopher, but it wasn’t long before she was back on the court. Shields transferred to Southwest Tennessee Community College and red-shirted the following season to get ready to return to the court for the 2006-07 season.

"After I had my son, I got back in the gym and started working out,” she said. “I red-shirted the following year just to continue to work on my game. I came back this year and I carried the load, took my team to the regional tournament [TJCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament]."

In Southwest's opening game of the tournament against Cleveland State, Shields scored a NJCAA-record 65 points to lead the Lady Saluqis to a 111-108 overtime win.

"I've always been a scoring factor. I can score at will, and I just always got my teammates involved,” Shields said as she recalled the game. “But this was just a crucial moment, I wasn't ready to go home, it was the first game, so I stepped it up a notch and when I stepped it up a notch everything just came out of me."

Shields finished the season averaging 25.9 points, 11.2 rounds and 6.7 assists and was named to 2007 Junior College/Community College Kodak/WBCA All-American Team. She was also named Player of the Year in the Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association by a unanimous vote of the coaches.

However, bigger news was on the way for Shields. Just a few days before the WNBA Draft, she received word from Renee Brown – Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations for the WNBA – that she was eligible to be selected. Since Shields is four years removed from her high school graduation, she was eligible to be drafted.

“I felt great (when I heard I was eligible),” Shields said. “Chills went through my body. It was a spark for me and my family.”

After an outstanding high school career, a pregnancy and going to three different colleges, Ashley Shields was on the cusp of fulfilling a lifelong dream. That dream came true on April 4 when the Houston Comets selected her with the eighth overall pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft.

“When the Comets picked me, I was so happy because it’s been my dream as a little girl for a long time to get to play with the Comets and also play with Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. Now my dream has come true and I’m just happy to get this opportunity.”

Comets head coach Karleen Thompson got the player she wanted when she made Shields the first WNBA player to be drafted out of junior college.

“Ashley has an all-around game. She’s both a great penetrator and a good point guard, plus she is a good size. She’s also an exceptional passer. She loves to set her teammates up and she plays good defense,” Thompson said about what attracted her to drafting Shields.

“She reminds me of Nikki Teasley. Same build, but Nikki is a little taller. But, just like Nikki, Ashley is able to see the floor, she can score and she can shoot the three. Ashley just reads the floor very well and she knows how to set her players up and is an exceptional passer and ball handler.”

Shields arrived at Comets training camp last week and is adapting to the competition level of the WNBA.

“It’s been a lot of hard work trying to adjust to everything. Everybody can play, there are bigger people and it’s a faster tempo,” Shields said. “Everybody is playing together as a team and getting to know each other. I’m getting to know a new team so I have to make adjustments for that, but everything is going great so far. It is a big jump for me, but I’m getting better every day.”

Shields says she’s had to work on many aspects of her game as she transitions to the WNBA, including staying low while she’s handling the ball, jumping more on her jump shot and opening up more quickly on defense.

“It’s just a different style of play for me, but I have adjusted to everything so far,” she said. “I’m just sticking with it and hopefully I do well during the season.”

Thompson said Shields’ lack of experience against elite competition did not concern her much.

“I didn’t really worry much about it," Thompson said. "I didn’t worry about it any more or any less than I would worry about a Division I player who hasn’t played with professional athletes. I think that Ashley is going to make a sudden impact for the team. It will be a learning experience for her, but she’ll definitely get the crowd excited.”

And Thompson has been impressed with what she has seen from Shields in the first week of training camp.

“She’s performing well. I and the other coaches believe that she has even more she can accomplish," Thompson said. "I think that she’s learning a lot from Sheryl Swoopes and Michelle Snow by just watching them play. She is watching and learning a lot. I also think she’s holding back a little bit, but you know I don’t want to push her, rush her or force her. She has shown what she can do during the games. As she plays with [the veterans] more and more every day, she’s gaining the confidence that is needed to play on the professional level.”

Shields says she hopes to bring more scoring and defensive intensity to the Comets during her rookie campaign.

Coach Thompson believes Shields will make an immediate impact on the team, but also sees Shields using her rookie campaign as a learning experience.

“Once you put her on the floor, she is definitely a producer," Thompson said. "You’re going to get a lot out of her. She plays hard, and at the same time she’s learning, she’s receiving on-the-job knowledge. She doesn’t have time to think about where she is right now, she has to just get out there and do it, and I don’t think that she will have a problem with that.”

Shields will make her professional debut on Friday when the Comets face the Detroit Shock in a preseason game from the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas.