Is Seimone Augustus the real deal? The answer is a resounding “yes.” The publicity that followed Augustus to Minnesota because of her incredible collegiate career has not been mere hype. The 6-0 guard has been as good as advertised as she continues her incredible basketball career here in Minnesota.

Through 20 games, it was apparent that Augustus is one of the top players in the WNBA. She is second to Diana Taurasi in scoring at 23.3 ppg and ranks seventh in free throw shooting percentage and 14th in field goal percentage.

Augustus is the face of the Lynx and, to a large extent, the entire WNBA as her image has appeared in local and national advertising campaigns and her words fill the airwaves and pages of local and national media outlets. It might be enough to make someone’s head spin, but Augustus has been through it all before and takes the media attention in stride.

“That comes with the territory,” Augustus said. “Me and my dad worked extremely hard to get to this point so I’m just glad that people actually recognize my game. That (the attention) comes with the territory and I’m more than happy to accept it.”

The role her father, Seymore, has played in Augustus’ development as a basketball player has been documented in several newspaper and magazine stories. It wasn’t your normal basketball training. Rather, at a young age, Seimone went through drills included dribbling with special glasses that forced her to keep her head up, dribbling around chairs with an arm tied behind her back and wearing a bowling glove while shooting to improve her arc. The drills helped her become a basketball legend in her hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, by the age of 8. She was the nation’s top basketball recruit when she elected to stay home and attend Louisiana State.

After four superb years at LSU, including winning several awards as the top collegiate women’s basketball player the past two seasons, the Lynx, who were fortunate to have the top pick in the WNBA Draft, wasted little time picking the potential franchise cornerstone. The Lynx knew they had a special player, but even they have been surprised by just how good Augustus is at all phases of the game.

“You really have to watch her to truly appreciate what she does for the game,” said Lynx head coach Suzie McConnell Serio. “Just her movement without the basketball, how she involves her teammates, setting screens and getting people open, how she comes off of screens and when she has the ball in her hands how fluid she is — she just makes everything look so easy. When you watch her practice you see why her game looks effortless at game time because of how hard she practices and that work ethic prepares her for game situations.”

Augustus did not enter the WNBA with any specific statistical goals. She just wanted to keep playing the way that had made her the dominant player in college.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “I just knew that I know how to play basketball. That’s what I’ve been doing all my life and all I can do is go out there and play like I’ve been playing. I didn’t come here thinking, ‘I’m going to score 20 points a game.’ I was just thinking, ‘I’m going to come out here and do everything that I need to do to help my team win.’”

Teammate Tamika Williams said Augustus has surpassed her expectations. “Oh yeah, big-time. Because I’m a coach (at Ohio State), I’ve had an opportunity to watch her, we played against her, see her on TV... and I’ve known her since she was probably nine or 10 years old. She has only gotten better. Now she’s shooting a couple more threes, coming off screens, she’s getting more rebounds than I think she did in college. Overall, I think the sky’s the limit for that kid. She’s so talented.”

Seimone has been winning fans and admirers of her game here in Minnesota and across the WNBA.

“You know, there are some players, in my opinion, that you can do very little to stop,” Houston Comets head coach Van Chancellor said in reference to Augustus. “You just hope she doesn’t have one of those unbelievable scoring nights. You’re not going to keep her from scoring, I believe that in all my heart.”

While scoring is what Augustus does best, she’s considered a complete player. McConnell Serio says Augustus’ basketball smarts and defense are sometimes overlooked.

“An area that I have been impressed with, is just how smart she is defensively, how she uses her size, how she uses her length,” McConnell Serio said. “She’s very smart and is in the right position. I think that is an area that she doesn’t get enough recognition because of how talented she is offensively.”

Lynx fans are fortunate as they get to watch Seimone Augustus play 17 home games every year for hopefully many seasons to come. They get to watch a truly special all-around player with a dizzying array of offensive moves. They get to watch Seimone Augustus — the Real Deal.