Denis Aidoo wasn’t sure if Maggie Proffitt could handle the expectations.
The Kenner (La.) Angels Amateur Athletic Union girls basketball coach was confident Proffitt could score, but he didn’t know if Proffitt would be able to live up the team’s defensive standards.
Sandra Rushing recalls having similar thoughts about the former Columbus High School and Starkville Academy standout when she arrived for her freshman season with the Central Arkansas women’s basketball team.
“When she came in I felt she was one-dimensional,” Rushing said. “She was a shooter.”
Proffitt has worked hard the last four years to dispel the misperceptions about her and her game. The last two seasons, Proffitt earned first-team All-Southland Conference honors and played an integral role in leading UCA to the NCAA tournament. Proffitt’s maturation as a player has helped her add another label: professional.
Earlier this month, Proffitt signed a professional contract to play basketball for Bender Baskets Grunberg in Germany. The signing completes a whirlwind last two months in which Proffitt, a three-time Southland Conference All-Academic performer, graduated from UCA, signed a deal with Scorers 1st Sportmanagement and player representative EJ Siderius, and took the next step in realizing her basketball dreams.
“I am definitely relieved it is over,” Proffitt said. “Everyone was asking, ‘Where are you going? Where are you going?’ Now that I have finally decided I am relieved, but I still am nervous because I never have been to Europe. I am really excited. I am looking forward to what the future holds there.”
Proffitt said she will live with two of her teammates in a three-bedroom apartment in Germany. She admitted she hasn’t done a lot of research about her new place of residence, but she acknowledged her feelings are similar to the ones she had prior to leaving Columbus to go to Conway, Arkansas, and play at UCA. She said the only difference now is she won’t be able to get in the car and drive five hours to come home, like she was able to do when she was in college.
“It is kind of scary and I am a little anxious, but I am definitely excited,” Proffitt said. “It definitely should be an awesome experience that not many players get to do. I am grateful to have the opportunity to continue to play.”
Siderius said his company represents about 45 male and 35 female players from all over the world. He said he follows the Southland Conference and Houston Baptist coach Donna Finnie. Siderius said Finnie contacted him about Proffitt, which led him to talk to Rushing, Proffitt, and Proffitt’s mother, Beth. He said he watched game film of Proffitt and discovered she was a “warrior” and a “scorer” whose game would fit well in Europe. He said the league Proffitt will play in is a “mid-range league” in the hierarchy of international women’s basketball.
“The season usually will last seven to eight months,” Siderius said in an email. “Having a good first season will move her up quickly. How quick is eventually up to the player and the way she showcases her self.”
Proffitt paved the way to a professional career by earning first-team All-Southland Conference honors the past two seasons. This past season, Proffitt, a 5-foot-9 guard, paced the Sugar Bears in scoring (15.6 points per game) and 3-pointers (67). Proffitt finished her career as UCA’s seventh all-time leading scorer (1,646 points) and the program’s second-leading scorer and career 3-point leader in the Division-I era. She also was named Southland Conference tournament MVP this season.
Rushing knew about Proffitt when she was the head women’s basketball coach at Division II Delta State. She took over at UCA in May 2012 and quickly re-established contact after she said her assistant coach saw her play in the summer. It didn’t take long for Proffitt to be a part of Rushing’s first full recruiting class.
“I thank goodness I was at Central Arkansas and had the opportunity to coach Maggie,” said Rushing, who said she knew Proffitt wanted to play Division I basketball. “She did slip through the cracks and she did establish herself as a great player, but she is not only a great player, but she is a great person. She is a great leader.”
Rushing said she signed Proffitt because she was a great shooter. She said she learned Proffitt was a fierce competitor and was dedicated to developing other parts of her game, like her ability to create her shot off the dribble and to play defense. For a self-proclaimed “defensive coach” like Rushing, that was a welcome sight and one she said Proffitt attacked with her typical competitive spirit.
“She became a good defensive player,” Rushing said. “She is not one-dimensional anymore. From her freshman year to her senior year she became more vocal. Like I said, she was a leader on the floor. I was really impressed with how she developed her short game and was able to put the ball on the floor and create her own shot.”
Aidoo, who is still coaching with the Angels, saw the same fire in Proffitt. He admitted her always believed Proffitt could play defense, but he said she was such an efficient scorer he wasn’t sure if she valued playing defense as much as she needed to. That’s why he said he pushed Proffitt so hard in her year with the program and was told by the team’s assistant coach that he needed to back off. But the work paid off as Proffitt played a prominent role in the Angels winning a state title and the AAU Nationals in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in the summer of 2012.
Aidoo said the exposure Proffitt earned from that summer played a big part in her attracting more attention — she also had a scholarship offer from Northwestern — after going largely unnoticed by many other Division I programs.
“Her work ethic and development have been unparalleled,” said Aidoo, who added Proffitt continued to come back to the Angels for workouts and individual stuff throughout her senior year in high school. “She already had taken ownership of who she is as a player and was getting in shape and doing all of the right things outside of basketball. There are not many kids I have coached who have worked as hard on and off the court like she did.”
Aidoo said he always believed Proffitt had an opportunity to play professional basketball because of her work ethic. He feels coaches didn’t really see what she was capable of when she was in high school. Now, though, he knows Proffitt will have a long career in the game, first as a player and then as a coach.
Proffitt hopes to catch up with Aidoo and her former Kenner Angels teammates on Friday, when the team will celebrate the five-year anniversary of the national title in New Orleans. She said she will continue to work out and look for people to work out with so she will be ready when she has to leave Aug. 21. After all, Proffitt realized only in the last year she wasn’t ready to end her career, so she intends to make the most of her opportunity — and to continue to dispel any misperceptions about her game.
“I have been playing since I was 5 years old at the YMCA in Columbus,” Proffitt said. “My whole life has revolved around basketball. … I didn’t know what I was going to do without it. After the game, I still want to coach and be around the game, but I was not ready to be an adult yet, and I want to play a couple more years and take advantage of the opportunity I have.”
Rushing is confident Proffitt will make that happen.
“She is going to do what it takes to succeed. She did here,” Rushing said. “It goes back to putting it on the floor and her knowing she needed to create her own shots and become a better defensive player. She is so knowledgeable about the game that she is pretty much a coach on the floor. She has a tremendous knowledge about the game. She has a great insight that I eventually think she is going to coach.
“I am so proud of her. She has made this opportunity. She has created this for herself. She has a great family support. That goes a long way.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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