By Tim LinafeltSeminoles.com Senior
Writer
GREENSBORO, N.C. –
Leticia Romero woke up
on Dec. 23, 2014, to a text message from more than 4,000 miles away.
It was from her coach, Sue Semrau, and read, “I’ve got good news. Call
me.”
A few moments later, Semrau gave Romero perhaps the greatest early Christmas
gift of her life. After months of wrangling through NCAA transfer laws, Romero
was eligible to play at Florida State. Immediately.
In two days, Romero boarded a plane headed from her home in the Canary
Islands to Tallahassee. She joined the FSU women’s basketball team, instantly
became a force and is a big reason the Seminoles have made a run to tonight’s
Sweet 16 matchup against Arizona State.
“She’s a special kid,” Semrau said. “And I think she’s a great balance for
our team.”
It’s safe to say the last few months have been a whirlwind for Romero, the
latest step on her basketball journey around the world. But it was hardly the
first.
‘I never thought that I would go’Romero grew up about an
hour away from Las Palmas, the capital of Spain’s Canary Islands off the coast
of Morocco.
Like most kids in the area, soccer was her first foray into athletics. But a
lack of fellow girls in the sport led Romero to basketball at age 9.
“The girls’ team wasn’t very good – they didn’t even show up for practice,”
Romero said. “So I practiced three times a day with the guys, then two days with
the girls. But I would still play with the girls, so that helped me a lot.”
By the time she turned 12, Romero received her first call from the Spanish
national team. And she joined CB Gran Canaria, a club team in Las Palmas at
13.
Gran Canaria’s schedule was demanding. Romero would get home from school
around 3 p.m., then load up the car with her father, Domingo, and be at practice
by 6. The club practiced until 10 p.m., which meant that Romero often wouldn’t
get home until after 11.
She repeated that cycle nearly every day until she turned 17.
“I need to give a lot of credit to my dad because he took me every day,”
Romero said. “Every day.”
The sacrifice paid off.
Romero continued to improve and earned a spot on Spain’s Under-16 national
team. Following a strong performance in the U-16 European Championships, Romero
received an email from Marquette University in Milwaukee.
The Golden Eagles were recruiting Romero to play basketball for them. But she
didn’t quite understand what that meant.
“I didn’t know what Marquette was,” she said. “I didn’t know what they were
trying to tell me. I knew the WNBA, but I didn’t know about NCAA
(basketball).”
Marquette was the first school to offer Romero a scholarship, but certainly
not the last.
The attention intensified after the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championships, where
Romero earned All-Tournament honors alongside future stars Diamond DeShields
(North Carolina/Tennessee) and Linnae Harper (Kentucky.
With so many college scouts in attendance, Romero, who averaged more than 13
points per game in the tournament, found herself on the radar of every major
women’s college basketball program in the country.
And she very nearly said "Thanks, but no thanks."
“I really never thought that I would go (to the United States),” she said. “I
saw it as something very far (away). I was scared about the language, about
everything. I didn’t know anything about it, so I didn’t really pay attention to
the emails.”
A conversation with her parents later changed her mind.
“I remember them telling me they thought it was a great opportunity,” Romero
said. “(They said), ’You’re going to be able to balance basketball and studies.’
But they were supportive about whatever I decided.”
Romero flew across the Atlantic for a recruiting visit in the spring of 2013.
It was her first time in the United States.
Romero, her father Domingo and brother Fernando stepped off a plane and into
Atlanta’s bustling Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and found that they
didn’t know where they were going.
“The funniest thing was that my English wasn’t good and I flew with my dad
and my brother. They don’t speak English,” Romero said.
“We were kind of lost and we didn’t know what to expect.”
Eventually, though, they found their way, first to Florida State, then Kansas
State and finally Virginia Tech.
A close relationship with former FSU guard Leonor Rodriguez and a connection
with FSU assistant Brooke Wyckoff – both of whom also played with Gran Canaria –
pulled Romero toward Tallahassee.
But, in the end, she chose Kansas State due to a strong connection to a KSU
assistant.
‘Just a gift’Romero excelled at Kansas State, leading
the Wildcats in points, rebounds, assists and steals as a freshman. That
success, though, didn’t translate to wins. The Wildcats finished 11-19 and coach
Deb Patterson and her staff were dismissed in March 2014.
Which meant that the staff that had built a deep relationship with Romero and
convinced her to play in Manhattan was gone after just one season.
Romero then sought to leave KSU in a lengthy saga that drew national
attention from the college sports world.
But after blocking her transfer for several months, Kansas State eventually
relented and granted Romero her release. She could play anywhere she chose and,
after visits to Florida State and Louisville, she picked FSU.
“I was really happy for Deb Patterson (when Romero went to KSU) because I
think she’s a great coach,” Semrau said. “At the same time, it leaves you
looking for something that’s very special. So to get her back here at Florida
State has been just a gift.”
Not just a gift, but also an epiphany.
Having Romero in the lineup allowed Semrau to move guard Maegan Conwright to
her more natural position on the wing. Which then paid dividends for guard
Brittany Brown. And, in turn, put key contributors Adut Bulgak and Ivey
Slaughter in better spots.
The results have been overwhelming.
With Romero’s patient passing and sharp floor vision combining with the
natural aggressiveness of players like Conwright and Brown, FSU found a mix of
playing styles that has led to one of the most successful seasons in school
history.
The Seminoles have already set a school record with 31 wins, reached the
Sweet 16 for the first time in five years and just three weeks ago came one game
short of an ACC Championship here in Greensboro.
The Seminoles were already good. Romero just put them over the top.
“I think she was such a welcome gift to the team that you saw our production
go up.”
‘That would be awesome’Romero’s success has led her
parents to become night owls.
With the Canary Islands five hours ahead of the eastern time zone, FSU’s
games often don’t start until midnight or later, meaning Domingo and Isabel
might be up past 2 a.m. watching their daughter play thanks to ESPN’s WatchESPN
streaming service.
Although Romero chats with her parents regularly via Skype, they’ve yet to
see her play college basketball in person.
They hope to change that soon, though, and their timing might just work out
perfectly.
Romero said Thursday that her parents are planning a visit to Florida next
week. Which happens to be the same week leading up to the women’s Final Four in
Tampa.
The Seminoles, of course, have to go through Arizona State on Friday and then
either North Carolina or South Carolina in Sunday’s Elite Eight round before
they can start thinking any further.
Still, Romero smiles at the idea that her parents might get to see her play
on her sport’s biggest stage.
“If we make it to Tampa,” Romero said, “they’ll come to Tampa, too.
“That would be awesome.”
Publicado en: http://www.seminoles.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32900&ATCLID=209986001
