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Tough decision for Prince had to be made
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Epiphanny Prince's decision to skip her senior season at
Rutgers and play overseas was one that had to be made.
The news that Rutgers star Epiphanny Prince will forego her senior season to play overseas this year probably came as a big surprise to just about everyone.
After all, Prince is the best player on a very good Scarlet Knights team that consistently makes the tournament, has a Hall of Fame coach and appeared in the national championship game just two seasons ago.
What more could a woman pursuing a basketball career ask for?
Unfortunately, though, life just isn’t always that easy.
Prince has more to worry about than just living the life on campus in Piscataway. She has a family to support – a family that still lives in the projects of Brooklyn and needs some financial help.
While nothing is absolutely official yet (Prince still needs to hire an agent), the move to play overseas for one year makes a lot of sense for her. She can earn good money for a year (Poland, Turkey, Russia and Spain are possible destinations, according to this New York Times article), before entering the WNBA draft in 2010. Prince, who is just 10 credits from graduating, though, has promised her mother that she will do just that, starting with summer school next month.
Prince also needs to keep in mind the uncertainty of the future of the WNBA, which could go under seemingly at any point. The average rookie salary in the league is under $40,000 a year – not exactly money that could move your family from the projects to luxury.
So, a year of making money will get Prince off on the right foot financially. While it is nearly impossible to make enough money for a lifetime in the WNBA, the fact that Prince is going to get a college degree before entering the draft next year has to be very comforting for her family.
As for coach C.Vivian Stringer and Rutgers, they shockingly lose their best player for a season that had high hopes as recent as two days ago. Other players will need to step up in her absence, including Brittany Ray and Khadijah Rushdan, who could be destined for stardom next year. April Sykes and Nikki Speed will also be counted on more to fill in for Prince in the backcourt.
And from a performance standpoint, there is no reason why Prince will hurt her draft stock that much in the next year.
Known as a physical player who always gives it her all on both ends of the court, Prince’s style of play should fit in nicely overseas and better prepare her for the WNBA
A recent article on SI.com seemed to suggest that the 5-9 Prince will have a tough time finding time on a roster overseas, as post players are in much higer demand than guards. The article claimed that Prince might have received really bad advice, considering that teams overseas pay little attention to college experience when handing out contracts.
But the fact remains that Prince could get a six-figure contract, something that would be impossible to turn down in her situation. And something tells me that the gritty and persistent Prince will find a way to get minutes on whichever team she chooses, even if it’s not done in a picture-perfect way.
That’s just the way she does things.
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