I can not tell you how excited I am to play my first Euroleague season! It is where I have wanted to be since I started playing in Europe 6 years ago. I started at the bottom and worked my way up, with nothing being handed to me- a great feeling. Of course, however, now that I will be given this opportunity, there is still a lot left to get done!

A few days ago, FIBA Europe had its draw for the Euroleague teams, including my new team Lotos Gdynia. We will play in Group C with 5 other teams, including Ros Casares (Spain), USK Prague (Czech Republic), Union Halnaut Basket (France), UMMC Ekterinburg (Russia) and JBS Sibenik (Croatia).

I checked out the rosters from various teams and it looks like the whole WNBA is coming to play in Europe again. Of course, my team Lotos Gdynia signed some big names such as Alana Beard, who is among the top scorers in this year’s WNBA season with 18.3 points/game for the Washington Mystics. Also, there is a rumor that our team is after Tamika Catchings as well.

Lotos Gdynia also announced the hiring of its new head coach- Jacek Winnicki. Sounds like it will be an exciting season!  You can check out our teams website for up to date information at:  http://lotospkobp.pl/

It is that time of year again! ….summer camp time that is! After a long season, this year I had asked myself, do I really need to work this summer? Well, not really to be honest! But, the truth is, I really enjoy working with young basketball players and developing talent. There is no better emotional reward for me than helping a young player enhance their game and seeing results.

Of course, I also would like do something again in my hometown, Williamstown, New Jersey. It would be a chance to give back to my community that has given so much to me. However, that is a little complicated right now, and I chalk it up to the idea that there is a time for everything.

Therefore, for the 2nd year in a row, I will work at the Philadelphia 76ers summer basketball camp. The camp is held up in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, which are located in Stoudsburg, Pennsylvania. I had really enjoyed doing this camp last summer and wanted to be a part of it again.

I will help coordinate the girls’ program, which lasts for 2 weeks, from June 29th - July 12th. It is the chance to work with players who come from over 40 countries and also great staff, lead by camp director, Todd Landrey. He runs a great show.

Throughout the week, appearances are made by NBA players, who give motivational speeches for the campers… and the staff too!

Go Sixers! For more information, go to sixerscamps.com

The playouts have not shown what this team really can do. In both series to avoid a drop to the second divison, Virtus Viterbo won the first game but weren’t able to pull out another win to finalize the series.

The “palazzetto” in Viterbo was filled for the last time to see a first division women’s team in their city and the Viterbo once again started off well. After a few minutes the team was up 11-2 and everybody was expecting the girls to win this deciding game.

Unfortunately their opponents, Pomezia had the same goal and took the momentum from game 2 where they were able to win at home.

But did Viterbo really lose the season with these last games? Probably not. Of course the team and the coach had it in their hands to win those games but during this season a lot of distraction from outside the team made it difficult to focus on the only goal: WIN.

With probably the best center in this year’s Italian league, Brooke Smith, a very good and smart point guard from Greece, Lolita Limoura and Michelle the team had three important players that any team would have wanted to have.

With the coach changing in the middle of the season and other problems that have been discussed in the local newspaper the problems finally caught up with Viterbo.

Michelle finished her last game with 24 points and 12 rebounds and tried to save Viterbo from the 2nd division with all she could - 5 fouls aren’t that often to see in her career.

After the game, the fans still thanked the team and were still proud of “their” team. The true fans probably all knew how hard it was to play under these circumstances and just felt as bad as the team.

Even with this last game lost, the whole experience to play and live in Italy is priceless and Michelle is very thankful of the support she got from the fans in Viterbo. For now everybody probably is just glad that it is finally over.