Feb. 16, 2005

Growing up in the Czech Republic, Ilona Burgrova preferred backstrokes to backboards. Burgrova -who’s a one-woman deep end, at 6’6″ – swam for eight years until boredom lifted her out of the pool.

“It was an individual sport, and practice was just up and down, up and down,” said Burgrova, who gave up swimming at age 12.

Wise move.

Burgrova has instead dived into her freshman season at Carolina, starting 14 games as the Gamecocks’ center. Her scoring and rebounding averages have increased since SEC play began. In a landmark year for freshman post talent in the SEC, Burgrova has shown she belongs.

“One thing Ilona does extremely well, better than any kid I’ve seen at the college game, is shoot a hook shot. And that’s kind of a lost art in basketball, men’s and women’s,” said head coach Susan Walvius.

Burgrova’s success in the SEC may have been preordained. As a high school sophomore, Burgrova played for the Basketball Travelers, a touring team that barnstormed across the U.S. playing college teams. Against Ole Miss, she dropped 14 points.

Yet even after that strong showing, the idea of playing in college never crossed her mind.

“We didn’t know who they were,” Burgrova said of her opponents, an admission of naïveté more than arrogance.

The Gamecocks saw an impact college player in the making. After watching her in the European Championships for Young Women in 2002, they were convinced they had found the next link in their international pipeline.

It also didn’t hurt that the coaches had a built-in connection to Burgrova’s mater patria.

“Michelle Marciniak’s former teammate in Seattle – Kamila [Vodichkova] is her name – is Czech,” Walvius said. “So Michelle talked with Kamila and asked, ‘Hey, how can we get in touch with this player?'”

With one of the most decorated women’s players in Czech history acting as ambassador, the Gamecocks pursued their center of the future.

Czech mate.

Now at Carolina, Burgrova knows she has far more battles to wage with the top-drawer post talent in her class and that she has more work to do to make herself a better player.

“They are much stronger than me. I have a lot of things to do to accomplish the same level with them,” Burgrova said.

“We’re teaching her to use her body without the basketball. We’re trying to get her to be a little more physical in the offensive end, so she can put herself in a position for easy scores,” said Walvius.

Tip Drill – Athens, GA

Reunited: Stacy Booker and Shannel Harris with Georgia assistant Brenda Hill. Hill coached the Gamecocks in AAU ball… when they were 11 years old.

Gallows Humor: A sign outside a boarded-up Midas muffler shop in Athens, Ga., read, “We Service Alien Aircraft.”