Wilber to Arizona State

The Sun Devils land an Auburn, Wash., player who, now finally healthy, can score from the post to the three-point line, and points in between.

PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
As an athlete, she has been a virtual injury train wreck. As a freshman she broke her hand, as a sophomore she battled mononucleosis and just this summer, after her junior year, she ended up with stiches in her chin from a fall at the End of the Trail tournament in Oregon City, Ore. Has the devil gotten into Stephanie Wilber? No, but she will get into a Sun Devil uniform as she gave a verbal commitment to Arizona State and coach Charli Turner-Thorne on July 19.

The injuries alone haven’t made it easy for the 6-1 forward from Auburn-Riverside High School in Auburn, Wash. The class of 2007 prospect had to deal with the pain of injury, the draining illness that is mononucleosis and, more importantly, the emotional self-doubt that the setbacks encompassed when colleges began backing off of her recruitment.

Wilber played with mono for a while without knowing it and, after the diagnosis, tried to squeeze out two more games that left her so ill and exhausted her comeback had no realistic timeline. After the second game, she played her throat swelled up so bad that she couldn’t eat or even get her medication down. She was forced to sit out, relax and recover and, if you know the kid’s personality, that’s just not an easy thing for Wilber.

Wilber came back too soon from mono and played with an enlarged spleen which, in a contact sport, could have ended in it bursting and causing serious internal bleeding. She was again sidelined. When she was finally able to play, the adrenaline and energy were just not there. “I felt OK, but I just couldn’t do the things I was used to doing,” Wilber said. Still she played and colleges, some unaware of the major illness began to back off of her recruiting and it led to much self doubt.

Stephanie Wilber

“They started acting like ‘Why are we even looking at her anymore’,” Wilber said of the colleges attitudes towards her. “It got to the point where I said ‘I can’t take this anymore.’ ”. Her dream of playing college basketball seemed to be caving in on her. Her dad and her high school coach refused to let her sulk, so they put her in the gym to work out, and she didn’t like it very much. But the eventually reached her and leading into the spring evaluation period she put in two weeks solid of three to five hour days working out and sharpening her skills. The results were phenomenal; she felt like her old self again and became a real gym rat.

“People saw how much I improved in a short period of time,” Wilber said.

Not just people, but the college coaches as well. She was offered by not only ASU but Arizona, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State with several other suitors, including Stanford and USC wondering where she was in the recruiting process.

When healthy, Wilber has been a force in the post and has shown a three-point shot on the high-school level, but increased her stock considerably by exhibiting the ability to handle the ball. College coaches projected the lefty shooter for perimeter play, and she demonstrated she belonged there.

Ultimately, Wilber found exactly what she wanted in the Sun Devils. “It seems like the perfect fit and I couldn’t be happier with my decision,” Wilber added. Back in June she made an unofficial visit to the campus and fell in love with the coaching staff, the players and the encouraging attitudes everyone involved with the program had. Emily Westerberg, the team’s leader went out of her way to meet Wilber’s parents and got to know them. Another observation of Wilber’s was the players there loved to be at open gym. “I’ve been to some other open gyms and that’s not always the case, you’ll be all by yourself shooting” Wilber said, “But they were all excited to be there and stayed after to talk. The team encourages you. It was an amazing visit.”

Wilber was back in action in early July, playing with her high-school team. In one game she managed to get her eyebrow busted open going up for a rebound. After getting the blood off her uniform and a bandage to keep the cut closed she was back on the floor. Then as if one gash wasn’t enough, with one minute left to go and the outcome all but decided she was running after a loose ball, was tripped and then landed on. Her chin would smash into the hardwood giving her an even bigger gash that would require numerous stitches. Yet she still wanted to finish the game.

Yet through all this you can hear it in her voice that she’s confident and ready to take on all challenges. “I take pride in being a leader on the floor,” Wilber said. She’ll have the challenge of expanding her perimeter game so she can play both the small and big forwards in Tempe. She’s played most of her career with her back to the basket but has the athleticism to and coordination to develop into a more versatile player. Her footwork defensively on the perimeter and ball handling are immediate area’s she working on and she has every intention of being an impact player and leader at ASU.

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Chris Hansen is the National Director of Scouting for Women's Basketball at HoopGurlz.com and Scout.com. Chris leads the panel that evaluates and ranks girl's basketball prospects nationally for HoopGurlz, Scout.com and Full Court Press (www.FullCourt.com). Chris has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He can be reached at [e-mail].