Just read an article on Caitlin Clark and what she will earn in the WNBA next year and in the article they mentioned that Erica Wheeler is the highest paid player in the WNBA at $240,000!
Wow that is amazing
Wow that is amazing
Erica Wheeler!!
- Thread starter richthedentist
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She was underrated here and not used to her potential
Good on her for blossoming in the pros
Good on her for blossoming in the pros
Great to see Erica making top salary
8 years in the WNBA earning a spot, her rookie season, because of an outstanding tryout only to be cut after 17 games.
But she persevered and earned a place in the WNBA the next season and became a top WNBA star.
8 years in the WNBA earning a spot, her rookie season, because of an outstanding tryout only to be cut after 17 games.
But she persevered and earned a place in the WNBA the next season and became a top WNBA star.
Erica's WNBA journey surely is a cinderella story. We can definitely be very proud as RUWBB fans of what she has gone on to do at the next level. The way she has embraced the role of being one of the faces/ambassadors of the league. As Mad stated above, her perseverance is a life lesson for all.....and I think those around the WNBA recognize how she kinda epitomizes the leagues resiliency during its own journey getting to where it stands today.
Played 30 or more games each of her 4 years, scored over 1,000 career points at RU
Though CVS offenses had a way of constraining offensively gifted players(Cappie, Piph, and the like), Erica didn't fall in that category. From what I remember, she was always a high energy player who was the perfect fit to excel in our pressure defense leading to transition offense...(T.Mack, Sy Davis, Shrita Parker type).
Although Erica was a McDs AA, she came to RU with raw skills. Her shot was inconsistent and ball-handling needed lots of improvement. She was a bit turnover prone. By her last season, I remember CVS forcing Erica to handle the ball more against pressure.
I can't help but think about parallels to Erica Lafayette. She didn't seem to want to dribble against pressure either until her recent emergence, after being thrust into the role, in the later stage of her collegiate career, somewhat similar to Erica Wheeler.
One thing's for sure......CVS taught her players how to be professionals through teaching the "details", and teaching life lessons.
Erica definitely put in the work post RU to raise those shooting and ball-handling skills to elite level. Just as Kahleah and Betnijah have continued to sharpen their skills to the point of being All Star caliber pros. I've heard Kahleah say, (i'm paraphrasing here) that she was grateful for the teachings of CVS because it separated her from others who didn't know of certain pro-level terminology and technique, which could make the difference between making a roster or not. I gotta think CVS had a little something to do with giving her players a shot at the next level, if they had the talent to be there.
All that said, I think, more importantly, CVS and RUWBB may have been vital to helping Erica W through the toughest time of her life,....the loss of her mom, the summer before her senior year. It's so much bigger than basketball when it comes to her story.
I'm good except for Cappie being "constrained". As we heard several times, in person, Cappie largely needed to shoot more early in the offence. Cappie would defer to her teammates, who were deferring to her, resulting in a lot of late shot-clock attempts. Or at least, that's what Vivian said. One other result was Cappie taking over in the 2nd half after her teammates hadn't stepped up so much.
Yes! Exactly what we have mentioned probably a million times on this board. Again, you are making my point. Can you believe, as great as Cappie was, she didn't avg more than 18 pts a game until her last year at RU(21ppg). CAPPIE, we're talking about.
Those of us who watched the games, whether in-person or on TV, witnessed the offensive struggles of the team. The fact that Cappie was often used as the initiator of the offense that was designed to use up shot clock and move the ball around before taking a shot, was constraining for such a talented offensive weapon. She wasn't necessarily deferring to teammates, she was running the offense that her coach designed. That's exactly right that she often had to bail them out as the shot clock was expiring. And yes, she surely would take over down the stretch ......because she could!!
In the RAC with my friends for RU vs LSU with Seimone Augustus. The stretch run of the game and my friend says, Augustus is gonna cement this thing away for LSU. I told him not to worry. Cappie is gonna take this game over. Seimone is gonna quietly fade as Cappie imposes her will on this game. After the game, my friend is wondering how I knew that.
I knew that because Cappie was unstoppable at that point. Arguably the best female player on the planet at that time. Unfortunately, Candace Parker was also in that conversation.
Cappie could have been an all-time scorer up there with Jackie Stiles if she was in an up-tempo, free-flowing offense centered around her talents. That's what you see with Clark and Bueckers...team offense but geared around them aggressively looking to score. Using much of the shot clock is not a priority for them and they end up averaging about 80+ ppg as a team compared to CVS offenses averaging probably around the 50s..She could have averaged 30+ in her sleep. Piph too. Viv's offense, somewhat, kept them in check, so to speak.
Not saying our offense was anywhere as efficient as Dean Smith's NC teams, but his offensive system had the same effect on Michael Jordan.
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