Seimone's Greatest Moment #4: Scaling Rocky Top

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Seimone Augustus is the greatest player to ever don an LSU Lady Tiger basketball jersey, and this Sunday she will become the first female student-athlete in LSU history to have her jersey retired when LSU hosts No. 4 Tennessee at 5 p.m. CST on ESPNU. The jersey retirement takes place at 4:30 p.m. Seimone Augustus' career was filled with brilliant moments in her four years. Defining which lasting images rank at the top is no easy chore, but this week on LSUsports.net, we will do our best to remember some of those great moments.

Our panel of LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey, women's basketball SID Bill Martin, senior associate sports information director Kent Lowe, radio announcer Patrick Wright and former LSU women's basketball SID Brian Miller, who covered Augustus' four years, has selected a top five.

The top five moments will be unveiled throughout the week leading up to Sunday's 4:30 p.m. jersey retirement.

Today, we take a look at No. 4.

LSU was previously 0-16 in Knoxville and the Tennessee Lady Vols had won 64 consecutive Southeastern Conference home games in the hostile confines of Thompson-Boling arena. Third-ranked LSU was looking to extend its SEC winning streak to 23 games. Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols were 21-2 and 7-1 in conference play as the top-five matchup would be shown to a national television audience on ESPN2.

An energized crowd of 18,850 were stunned as Seimone Augustus made her final appearance in the arena a memorable one with a game-high 32 points to lead the Lady Tigers to a 72-69 victory that ended Tennessee's 10-year SEC home winning streak.

The emotions of the 40-minute battle wore on the players faces.

"Florence Williams was in the back, dramatic tears flowing down her face," Augustus said. "That made me feel good inside. A lot of players came up to the seniors and said 'thank you.' We looked right back at them and said 'thank you.' It was thank you right back to them for going out and working and emotionally competing and just keeping us throughout the game."

Read the entire article: http://bit.ly/6ZYkfV

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Posted by Bill Martin  

Seimone's Greatest Moment No. 5: Wade Trophy

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Seimone Augustus is the greatest player to ever don an LSU Lady Tiger basketball jersey, and this Sunday she will become the first female student-athlete in LSU history to have her jersey retired when LSU hosts No. 4 Tennessee at 5 p.m. CST on ESPNU.

Seimone Augustus' career was filled with brilliant moments in her four years. Defining which lasting images rank at the top is no easy chore, but this week on LSUsports.net, we will do our best to remember some of those great moments. Our panel of LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey, women's basketball SID Bill Martin, senior associate sports information director Kent Lowe, radio announcer Patrick Wright and former LSU women's basketball SID Brian Miller, who covered Augustus' four years, has selected a top five.

The top five moments will be unveiled throughout the week leading up to Sunday's 4:30 p.m. jersey retirement.

Today, we start with No. 5.

Augustus left LSU as the most decorated female athlete in school history. A two-time National Player of the Year selection and the only three-time State Farm All-American in school history, the Baton Rouge native's most prestigious honor might have occurred on April 1, 2005. The State Farm Wade Trophy has long been associated as the "Heisman Trophy" of women's college basketball since its inception in 1978.

LSU had never boasted such an award in program history, until Augustus' junior season of 2004-05. With the Lady Tiger team and staff on hand prior to the 2005 Final Four in Indianapolis, Augustus was announced as the 2004-05 State Farm Wade Trophy recipient at the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's National Convention.

Prior to the announcement, Augustus had no idea she would claim the award. She joined a prestigious list of women's basketball greats that included Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Alana Beard. LSU finished that season with a 33-3 overall record, a perfect 14-0 mark in Southeastern Conference play and a second straight trip to the Final Four thanks to the play of Augustus.

"It is very overwhelming," Augustus said about receiving the Wade Trophy. "It was a surprise because of the other players up there with me. It was tough to think that I would be the player of the year."

The nine other Kodak/WBCA All-Americans, Jacqueline Batteast of Notre Dame, Monique Currie of Duke, Ohio State's Jessica Davenport, TCU's Sandora Irvin, Minnesota's Janel McCarville, Kansas State's Kendra Wecker, Mississippi State's Tan White, Stanford's Candice Wiggins and Sophia Young of Baylor, were finalists for the Wade Trophy.

Augustus went on to claim the Naismith Trophy, the John R. Wooden Award and the Honda Award. However, after 30 seasons of women's basketball at LSU, the Lady Tigers had finally produced a Wade Trophy winner. Augustus would repeat the honor a season later as a senior to cap her career as the greatest player in school history.

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Posted by Bill Martin  

Seimone's number to be retired

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BATON ROUGE -- The jersey of Seimone Augustus, arguably the most decorated female student-athlete in LSU history and a two-time women's basketball National Player of the Year, has been retired, LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva announced Saturday.
Augustus becomes the first female student-athlete in school history to have her jersey retired.
Augustus joins an elite group of LSU legends whose jerseys have been retired in the 117-year history of LSU Athletics. Only eight other individuals in LSU history have had their jerseys retired, including Pete Maravich, Bob Pettit, Rudy Macklin and Shaquille O'Neal in men's basketball, Billy Cannon and Tommy Casanova in football and Skip Bertman and Ben McDonald in baseball.

Seimone: "It is a honor to be able to be the first female basketball player to have her jersey retired. It is humbling to know that my jersey will forever hang in the rafter with players like bob pettit, shaq, and pete maravich. It is even more special that I'm a home grown product right from baton rouge. It give my family, friends, and loyal supporters something to be proud of and remember forever. I'm glad to be apart of the lsu history as well be apart of lsu family."

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Posted by Bill Martin  

Seimone named Female Athlete of the Decade

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From Jim Kleinpeter, The Times Picayune:


BATON ROUGE - Simply calling Seimone Augustus The Times-Picayune Female Athlete of the Decade doesn't do her justice.

Augustus is the best player in the 34-season history of the LSU women's basketball program and the early leader for Female Athlete of the Century for those forward thinkers.

The Baton Rouge native was a three-time All-American and a two-time consensus National Player of the Year, twice winning the Wade Trophy, and the Naismith, Wooden, Associated Press and Honda Awards for women's basketball.

Augustus is LSU's second-leading scorer all-time with 2,702 points, a 19.3 average per game.

But her contributions to LSU women's basketball went beyond personal honors. She was a terrific all-around player who made her teammates better, and helped LSU to three consecutive Final Four appearances, which started a run of five consecutive Final Fours for the program.

"I'm glad I made the choice to go to LSU, " she said. "A lot of people ask me if I could go back would I change it. I'm like 'No, I enjoyed being coached by Coach (Sue) Gunter, Coach (Pokey) Chatman and Coach (Bob) Starkey. I enjoyed the run we had. The four years I was there we made a lot of history.

Read entire article: http://bit.ly/7pTkZF

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Posted by Bill Martin  

Seimone named to SI All-Decade Team

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The following was comprised by Kelli Anderson at SI.com


Guard: Diana Taurasi, UConn. She won the 2002 NCAA title surrounded by great talent, the 2003 title accompanied by a team of role players and the 2004 title because, as Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma put it, "We have Diana and you don't." She is our women's college basketball Player of the Decade.

Guard: Sue Bird, UConn. Her unique package of playmaking skills, vision, instinct and clutch shooting helped Connecticut win two NCAA titles, in 2000 and 2002. Bird's 45.9 percent career three-point shooting is still the best in UConn history.

Forward: Candace Parker, Tennessee. The 6-foot-4 guard/forward/center could play every position, fill out every statistical box -- and dunk. She led the Lady Vols to back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008, the latter while suffering a dislocated left shoulder.

Forward: Seimone Augustus, LSU. The player LSU athletic director Skip Bertman called "the most important recruit in the history of LSU," never led the Lady Tigers to a national title, but her trademark feathery jumper (and 19.3 points and 5.2 rebounds a game) guided LSU to three straight Final Fours and established the program as a perennial title contender.

Center: Courtney Paris, Oklahoma. While dominating the post for the Sooners from 2005-2009, the four-time Kodak/State Farm All-American set a number of records, including the NCAA mark for consecutive double-doubles, with 112.

Coach: Geno Auriemma. Five NCAA title in 10 years -- two of them, 2002 and 2009, capping undefeated seasons -- is downright Wooden-esque.

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Posted by Bill Martin  

Seimone names to Yahoo! All-Decade Team; Syl Honorable Mention

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Yahoo! Sports Decade in Review (By Jeremy Stone) takes to the hardwood for a series of women's basketball top fives. Next up is our top five players of the 2000sin the NCAA.


Seimone Augustus, forward, LSU
Augustus led LSU to the first three of five consecutive Final Four appearances from 2004 to 2006. She was the top scorer in the country as a senior and never shot worse than 53 percent from the field. Though Augustus never got the Tigers into the championship game, she remains the only back-to-back Wade Trophy winner of the NCAA era.

Sue Bird, guard, Connecticut
Though Bird played less than three full seasons in the decade, she was the premier point guard in the country and leader of Husky teams that won the national title in 2000 and 2002. She not only distributed the ball with flair but also possessed a lethal jumper and ability to penetrate. Bird twice shot better than 50 percent from the field and nearly shot 50 percent from three-point range as a sophomore. She played 100 games in the decade and UConn won 97 of them. And of course, she paved the way for Diana Taurasi to lead the Huskies to two more titles after Bird was selected first in the 2002 WNBA draft.

Diana Taurasi, guard, Connecticut
Need her to play point? OK, she'll finish with more assists than Sue Bird. Need her to score? OK, she'll take every clutch shot you need. Lost your top rebounders to the pros? OK, she'll grab two more boards per game the next season. And she'll win more than anyone ever has. The Huskies won 139 games in Taurasi's time from 2000 to 2004, including 31 in a row the season after four UConn starters went in the top six of the WNBA draft. No wonder Taurasi won two Naismith Awards and herself went No. 1 in the 2004 draft.

Candace Parker, forward, Tennessee
Move over, Chamique Holdsclaw? Probably not, seeing as Parker played only three seasons for the Lady Vols and won one fewer title. But it's close. Parker morphed into Women's Basketball Superstar 2.0 during her time in Knoxville, satiating the masses with her ability to dunk and wowing women's basketball fans with her unprecedented multifaceted game. And not that anyone questioned her toughness, but she won her second Final Four Most Outstanding Player award while playing through a dislocated shoulder.

Courtney Paris, center, Oklahoma
The folks in Norman won't make Paris repay her scholarship as she offered to do. Nor should they. Though the Sooners fell short of her championship aspirations, the NCAA career rebounding leader wasn't to blame. She posted double-doubles in her first 112 games and was the first freshman AP All-American, first sophomore AP Player of the Year and first four-time All-American. No other college player in any division has amassed 2,500 points and 2,000 rebounds.

Honorable mention: Jackie Stiles, guard, Missouri State (then SW Missouri State), the all-time scoring leader (but graduated in 2001); Ruth Riley, center, Notre Dame; Alana Beard, guard, Duke; Sylvia Fowles, LSU; Candice Wiggins, guard, Stanford; Maya Moore, forward, Connecticut.

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Posted by Bill Martin  

Seimone: "Motivated to come back as a more complete player"

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An outstanding article and update on Seimone from Slam Magazine written by Ben York:

There’s an age old saying that the night is darkest just before the dawn. For Seimone Augustus, the dawn is finally coming.

Just 6 games into the 2009 WNBA season, the Minnesota Lynx were flying high under new head coach Jennifer Gillom, rivaling the Phoenix Mercury in terms of excitement and scoring. Seimone Augustus, Minnesota’s perennial All-Star and one of the best players in the game, was third in the league in scoring, averaging 21 points per game and shooting 57% from the floor. She even won Western Conference Player of the Week honors for leading the Lynx to their strong start. Legitimate buzz surrounded the young, exuberant, and up-tempo team and optimism began to consume Lynx fans in Minnesota and across the country.

Seimone isn’t the type of player to be down for long. Sitting out the entire year has provided a motivation for Augustus to come back with a vengeance. Augustus made the decision to stay in Minnesota during the off-season to focus 100% on the rehabilitation of her knee. Simply put, Seimone is poised to come back stronger than ever. “I’m motivated to come back as a more complete player,” Augustus said. “This experience has helped me understand I need to go hard at all times; in practice go hard, shoot-arounds go hard, because you never know when it can change.”

Another major change for Seimone was the cutting of her trademark dreadlocks. Though, for Seimone, the change in appearance represented a new direction in life rather than just another haircut. “It was a life changing year for me and my family,” Augustus said. “It was just time to cut it off, start fresh. My dad was having a tough time with MS [Multiple Sclerosis] and it was a tough battle for my family and I. Tearing the ACL was life changing and it was just time for a new beginning.”

Seimone’s rehab couldn’t be going better, and it’s easy to sense the focus and determination that Seimone has to return to her old form. There is an indelible feeling of perseverance that exudes from Augustus when she talks about coming back in 2010. She’s in the gym on a daily basis working to not only improve physically, but mentally, as well. Lynx fans will be happy to know that the wait to see Seimone back on the basketball court isn’t much longer. “I can’t complain, I feel good,” Seimone said with a smile. “I’m doing more basketball related things like running, jumping, and weights and in January will return to full contact. I should be 100% in January and could even start playing basketball in December.”

Read the entire article: http://bit.ly/6aMPxN

Filed under  //  Seimone Augustus   WNBA  
Posted by Bill Martin  

Seimone Rehab Progress Report

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We came across a great article on Seimone with a question and answer in regard to her rehab and process and we are all so pleased to hear that things are going great! Thanks to Lynxbasketball.com


LB: What can you say to the fans to thank them for their support? I'm sure you've gotten letters, flowers…

SA: I've gotten everything. I really can't say enough. I love the fans here; From the times when they're getting on me because I'm not playing well, to the support they've given me through my situation. I've gotten cards, flowers, letters… Even at the games they'll stop by. They'll say a few words. I don't know if they know, but it means a lot when you're going through something that you've never experienced before. It means a lot. Just to hear people say 'I can't wait to have you back.' It uplifts me and gets me looking forward to coming back next year and working harder.

Read the entire article at: http://bit.ly/3DCxUK

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Posted by Bill Martin  

Sylvia and Seimone Visit Walter Reed Hospital

SYLVIA FOWLES (10-1-09):

"I enjoyed myself for the most part. It was very eye-opening just to see these people from the war who were banged up and injured, but still had the right mindset about life. I’m happy we paid a visit to them because they really look forward to these (types of) visits. They tell us how we lighten their day, so I’m happy I was able to help someone smile today."

 
Comments from Big Syl who joined Seimone and visited

 
Following today’s (10-1-09) practice, the USA Basketball Women’s National Team had an opportunity to visit with some of the wounded soldiers recovering at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. After a briefing from a member of the United Service Organizations, better known as the USO, the team broke up into small groups of 4-5 and visited troops in their hospital rooms.

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Posted by Bill Martin  

SEIMONE GAINS INSPIRATION FROM WOUNDED

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The following comes from an article written by Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press:


Seimone Augustus hasn’t been able to play at the U.S. women’s basketball training camp while she rehabilitates her injured left knee.

She’s been cheering from the sideline and working on her rehab, but misses being on the court with her teammates. Still, the camp hasn’t been a total loss for the Minnesota Lynx guard.
A post practice trip by the national team to Walter Reed hospital to visit wounded soldiers really helped put her ACL injury in perspective.

“Going through my rehab and stuff like that, I’ve been feeling down on myself and depressed and I shouldn’t,” Augustus said. “They’ve been through worse things than me and they’re calm.”

There was one soldier whom she met who was fortunate to be alive. He had an injured spine and neck and was wounded when a bomb went off underneath his vehicle. Right as the bomb went off, the soldier remembered to push away from his gun so as not to be further hurt. He told her how many soldiers are hurt worse when they bang their heads into their guns after a bomb goes off.

Some of his fellow soldiers in the vehicle weren’t so lucky.

“Just to know this guy was almost killed and he’s here talking to us and happy to see us is a special thing,” Augustus said. “These guys go out and risk their lives every day and not know if they’re going to come back home alive or not. To hear about their experiences is a motivational factor for me.”

Read the entire article: http://bit.ly/CaqIj

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Posted by Bill Martin