The Guards

The combination of a rising star (Jamie Carey) and top-flight recruit (Susan King) gives the Cardinal the potential of having one of the top backcourts on the West Coast.

"The number one thing for us is to have both Susan and Jamie healthy," VanDerveer said. "Both are capable of playing the point."

Carey and King, among others, will look to pick up the slack of departed two time First Team All-Pac-10 Selection Milena Flores, who now plays for the WNBA’s Miami Sol. Flores enjoyed the best year of her collegiate career as a senior, in becoming the first player in Pac-10 history to win both three straight conference assist titles and back-to-back free throw percentage crowns. She also finished third in Stanford history and fourth in the Pac-10 record book with 644 career assists to cement herself as one of the top point guards in Stanford women’s basketball history.

Carey emerged as Flores’ backcourt mate a year ago by posting one of the finest freshman seasons in the history of the program. Despite a nagging left high ankle sprain that caused her to sit out the majority of the team’s practices, Carey earned Freshman All-America and conference freshman of the year honors after averaging 11.0 points per game and setting a new school record with 81 3-pointers in a season. She really came to the forefront in Pac-10 play with a team-high 12.4 points per game and .478 (55-of-115) shooting percentage from behind the 3-point line. Following off-season ankle surgery, a healthy Carey will look to follow up on her freshman success.

"I think Jamie had an exceptional freshman year," VanDerveer said. "You recruit players and sometimes don’t alwyas know what you’re getting. With Jamie we knew she was an outstanding outside shooter but had no idea she played with such heart and was as good as she was defensively. It was disappointing for her that she wasn’t able to practice most of last season because of her ankle, so it’s amazing that she accomplished the things she did despite the injury. The biggest thing for her will be to stay healthy, because she has a great work ethic, great attitude and all the intangibles it takes to succeed at this level."

King comes to Stanford after being one of the most coveted prep point guards in the nation last season. Besides earning First Team All-America honors from USA Today, King was named Minnesota Player of the Year by the same publication as well as being named Minnesota’s "Miss Basketball" for the 1999-2000 campaign.

"Susan is very athletic, very quick and extremely competitive. She can pass, shoot, and use her quickness to take people to the basket. She is crazy about the game of basketball and has a great work ethic."

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