Carmel Catholic senior eyes 2nd girls basketball championship, future in WNBA
MUNDELEIN, Ill. (CBS) – A lot of young girls dream about playing in the WNBA. One suburban athlete got to see it up close when she was in elementary school.
Now helping her Carmel Catholic High School try to repeat as among the best teams in the state, all while still chasing that dream. CBS 2's Matt Zahn had the story.
The Carmel Catholic girls basketball team is playing with a target on their backs this season after winning their first-ever state championship last season.
"One of the things I really never talk about with the girls is defending or repeating," said head coach Ben Berg. "Our focus is to try to get better every day.
Berg added, "We know and the girls know we're going to get everyone's best shot, but that's actually a good thing. That's going to prepare us for those big games later in the year."
"Coming off winning state, people have a lot of expectations for us," said senior Jordan Wood. "We want to listen to them, but we also want to do what we think is best for us. Everybody's expectation is going down and winning state. We have to just win the day."
Wood is used to the attention and expectations. The 6-foot-4 senior has, for a while now, been on of the most highly touted recruits in the state and recently signed her letter of intent to play at Michigan State.
"It was stressful growing up because it was always attention," Wood said. "But as I'm getting older, I'm learning to appreciate it because it's like a once-in-a lifetime opportunity."
Jordan has dreams of playing in the WNBA one day. She has some inside knowledge of the league. When she was in elementary school, Jordan was a junior reporter for the Chicago Sky.
"My mom and I and my little sister were season ticket holders for the Chicago Sky," she said. "Growing up, we loved going to the games. We got close to the team and the coaches and their families. And they were like 'Oh you should totally be a junior reporter. We have a spot open.' I was like 'OK, sure.' I get to hang out with the team, learn more about basketball. The WNBA is what I want to do, so I was like, 'OK, perfect opportunity.' It was just really fun. I got to go in the locker room, talk to the players."
For Wood to one day be in a WNBA locker room is obviously going to take some work, but her coach wouldn't be surprised if she makes it.
"I think she's got that potential," Berg said. "She's going to have to get stronger obviously when she gets to the college level. If she does things the right way, she's got a very high ceiling."
For now though, Wood is focused on her high school career and helping the Corsairs win a second-straight state championship.
Zahn: "What would it mean to go out with another championship?"
Wood: "It would be like the best possible outcome."
"I do have high hopes for this group," Berg said. "I know how much they care. I know how much they're motivated to do some special things this year."
The Corsairs are off to a good start at 8-2 so far this season.