By Ryan Pretzer
Re-posted with permission from the Detroit Shock and
There are several unfamiliar names on the Detroit Shock training camp roster.
For local Shock fans, Samantha Mahoney’s should not be one of them. The West Bloomfield, Mich., native has returned following a successful career at the University of Kentucky.
And, like most college grads, she’s looking for a job.
That’s why the undrafted rookie has put family matters on hold while she tries to hold her own against fellow training-camp signees and former collegiate rivals. Mahoney reported to camp Sunday and went through five practice sessions before going to dinner with her parents, Milton and Pamela, and younger sister Tabatha on Tuesday evening. She’s also staying at the team hotel instead of her parents’ house.
Despite the business-before-pleasure aspect to her stay, Mahoney has a pretty nice arrangement for however long it lasts. She knows the chances of making the regular-season roster are slim.
“I know the Shock is a great team, a championship-winning team so just coming in I knew it would be tough to make the team,” Mahoney said. “They have some great players already signed, especially at the guard position. I’m kind of just trying to do my best at whatever they may need.”
Mahoney: UK ‘felt like home’
Mahoney graduated in 2004 from West Bloomfield High School as the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer with 2,122 points. She finished second in the voting for 2003 Miss Basketball and was recruited by Big Ten schools like Michigan State, Michigan and Purdue.
It didn’t look like Mahoney would leave the Great Lakes area until two of the assistant coaches that were recruiting her, Michigan State’s Niya Butts and Purdue’s Pam Stackhouse, left their respective schools to join the Kentucky coaching staff. Impressed by both women, Mahoney followed them to Lexington. “I kind of felt at home with all of them together,” she said.
Kentucky faced a substantial rebuilding job under second-year coach Mickie DeMoss, but it was a challenge that Mahoney and several other elite recruits welcomed. Mahoney helped DeMoss net the No. 7 recruiting class in the country, according to the Blue Star Index.
“We had a lot of top recruits; our recruiting class was really good so we were excited about that,” Mahoney said. “The program wasn’t doing too well there so that was another key factor in my decision to go there. We wanted to turn the program around.”
Seven games into Mahoney’s UK career she entered the starting lineup. She averaged 10.6 points and was an SEC All-Freshman selection. The Wildcats went 18-16 — their first season above .500 in five years – and made the first of three straight postseason appearances.
Mahoney was an All-SEC Second Team selection the next three seasons, each time raising her scoring average. She twice led the Wildcats in scoring (11.9 points per game as a sophomore and 13.4 as a senior), and scored 1,601 career points, third-most in UK women’s hoops history.
Despite her individual accolades, Kentucky went 27-29 in conference play during Mahoney’s four seasons and the Wildcats never quite reached the echelon of SEC programs like Tennessee and LSU, both participants in the 2008 Women’s Final Four.
“The SEC is a really tough conference,” Mahoney said. “Every team is great; you can get beat any night by anybody. And just having those two here, I’ve played against them four years straight in multiple games and I’m kind of familiar with their style of play. I think they’re great players.”
“Those two” are the Shock’s first-round draft picks, Alexis Hornbuckle from Tennessee and Tasha Humphrey from Georgia. Being in camp with SEC opponents that she feels she played well against has emboldened her. “It brings a sense of confidence because those were the two top draft picks,” she said. “I’ve played against them so many years, now it does bring a sense of confidence.”
Laimbeer: ‘We wanted to give her a chance’
Mahoney, who turns 22 in May, needs that confidence more than ever to become the fourth former UK player to join the WNBA ranks. The Shock are stacked at the top of the depth chart guard with Katie Smith, Deanna Nolan and Hornbuckle.
Laimbeer said the coaching staff “scoured” for undrafted guards and Mahoney’s name came up, “plus she’s a local girl and we wanted to give her a chance,” he said. He is looking at the career 39.3 percent field-goal shooter at the two-guard.
“We’ve got a really good look at her [in camp],” Laimbeer said. “She’s played well in spurts but there’s a lot of competition in camp, too.”
In cases like Mahoney’s, Laimbeer said, attending a WNBA camp should improve her chances of finding a job in a league overseas. “That really helps that you’ve been in a camp,” he said. “[It shows] you understand what it takes and what it’s about.” Mahoney, who did not receive a camp invitation from another WNBA team, said her agent has arranged opportunities to play overseas beginning in August if she doesn’t stick in the league.
Mahoney could be on the move again soon. For now, she’s enjoying a hearty homecoming. “A lot of close friends have come to go to lunch,” she said.
