Salley Free to Play Again
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Kevin Pelton, StormBasketball.com | May 13, 2011
All the early mornings, all the drills, all the extra individual work, it was all leading to this. That's true to an extent for every rookie preparing for Seattle Storm training camp, which opens Sunday at the Storm's practice gymnasium in Royal Brougham Pavilion on the Seattle Pacific University campus. However, nearly all of them saw the effort translate into glory at the college level. That's not the case for training camp invitee
Breanna Salley, who is finally getting a chance to play meaningful basketball after being deprived the chance to play the last two seasons.
Salley, who transferred to nearby Seattle University after one season at the University of Minnesota, was the Redhawks' leading scorer as a sophomore, averaging 17.5 points per game. After the season, her basketball career was interrupted when violations overseen by Seattle U's former coach left her ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA. The harsh verdict? Salley could practice with the Redhawks, but had to sit on the bench during games and watch her teammates play without her.
 Salley started as a sophomore at Seattle U, but had to spend the next two seasons on the sidelines. courtesy Seattle University Athletics |
It would have been easy for Salley to quit, but the possibility of being able to play professionally served as motivation to keep her going. Seattle U Head Coach Joan Bonvicini, who has produced WNBA talent like Los Angeles Sparks GM Penny Toler and Storm color analyst 
Adia Barnes, assured Salley that going pro was realistic.
"When I first heard I wasn't going to be able to play, I was totally upset," said Salley, "but then I focused on sticking with my goals, coming to practice every day - not letting it take me out. I kept working.
"I knew that if I worked hard, I was going to have an opportunity, whether that was overseas or here. Coach B always encouraged me at Seattle and said, 'I think you have potential to play. Stick with it. Keep waking up early and coming to practice.'"
By the middle of what should have been Salley's senior season, the Redhawks coaching staff had helped build some buzz around her potential. Salley was mentioned by SwishAppeal.com as one of the nation's top prospects outside the power conferences. Still, WNBA coaches needed to see Salley play against pro-caliber competition. She got that opportunity during a free-agent camp held in Indianapolis in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four. The Storm's coaching staff, watching closely, liked what they saw from Salley.
"The longer the day went, the better she played," said Storm Head Coach Brian Agler. "I was impressed with her athleticism, her instincts for the game and her competitiveness. She was working on the floor to try to impress people to get a chance. She was taking that opportunity very seriously, and that stood out."
After Salley went unselected in the following week's WNBA Draft, the Storm made her one of three undrafted rookies invited to training camp, along with Florida State's 
Courtney Ward and Bowling Green's 
Lauren Prochaska. While the other players traveled across the country, Salley has had only to drive across town to pursue her WNBA aspirations at the same time as finishing up her classes at Seattle U and preparing to graduate next month. The fit could not be more ideal.
"I'm so excited," she said. "It's surreal. I'm so happy for the opportunity to get to wear the Seattle Storm gear and get to work with the awesome coaching staff and all the players - 
Sue Bird, 
Lauren Jackson. I mean, dream come true."
Add to the story this twist: Salley has already been a part of the Storm organization, but on the business side. She spent last summer working in the Storm Team Shop and helping sell merchandise to fans at KeyArena during games. Salley jokes that she's gone from selling Storm jerseys to wearing one of her own, and the experience gave her a sense of what the Storm is all about.
"I'd try to sneak into the arena and watch some of the games during the dead spots when people weren't coming and buying stuff," she said. "You get the feel and the atmosphere, get to know the fans. Obviously, not everyone has that approach coming into it. I think it's really cool."
Now is time for Salley to get down to the business of trying to make the team. She's worked tirelessly with the Seattle U coaching staff - including Kristen O'Neill, who parlayed a successful training camp into an extended stint with the Storm in 2008 before retiring to get into coaching as an assistant to Bonvicini - to be ready for this moment. The individual drills have helped Salley do what she can to overcome losing two years' worth of critical development time in game situations.
As rookies prepare for the biggest practices of their lives, Salley is in a familiar position. The last two seasons, practices have been her games. Teammates gave her a hard time about putting on her headphones to block out distractions and focus before scrimmages, but that was all she had. Now that practices with the Storm will determine her professional future, Salley wants to make sure she takes full advantage.
"Just leaving every ounce of me on the floor," she said of her mindset. "Taking it one day at a time. I don't want to have one regret, that one day I could have pushed it harder in this one drill or anything. I'm just leaving it out there. It's out of my hands after that point, but I'm never going to say that I didn't give it everything."
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