Freshman center brings new height for Hoosiers

From afar, she looks like any other college woman, well proportioned with shoulder-length blonde hair. But when you stand next to her, it all becomes clear. This woman was built to be a NCAA Division I basketball center.\nStanding at a legitimate 6 feet 7 inches, freshman center Sarah McKay is set to make a splash on the IU women's basketball team. McKay's height ties her with Wisconsin senior Lello Gebisa for the tallest player in the Big Ten Conference and such height should command attention from Hoosier opponents. IU coach Kathi Bennett sees potential both in McKay's 6 foot 7 inch frame, and her upbeat frame of mind.\n"Sarah's someone that we can build around," Bennett said. "It's not only her size. She encourages, she lifts, she does all those intangible things. From a pure basketball standpoint, she gives us a great presence inside and the ability to score one-on-one in the post."\nMake no mistake, McKay is not all height. During the 2003 AAA Provincial Championships, Sarah averaged 37.8 points, 26.5 rebounds and 5.5 blocks in four games, earning first-team All-Star Honors. She was also one of only 22 players in the entire country invited to participate at the Canada Basketball Developmental Mini-Camp and was one of the top 40 incoming freshmen in the nation.\nMcKay, a native of Victoria, British Columbia, a large coastal city in Canada, received a little shell-shock coming into the basketball-crazed atmosphere of Indiana.\n"(Playing at IU) has been amazing. All the people are great, and I never expected anything like this to happen," McKay said. "Basketball's life for some people down here, and that's the greatest thing anyone could ask for, especially coming from a place where basketball's not quite so big."\nThe tall Canadian is actually quite comfortable with her impressive height. Coming from a family with a 7 foot father and a 6 foot 11 inch brother, Sarah and her 5 foot 7 inch inch mother are actually the shrimps of the McKay clan.\n"Some people ask me if I don't like being tall," McKay said. "But I have to live with it, and I figure I may as well enjoy it. I consider it a blessing. It's never been a problem for me."\nA blessing on the basketball court? Absolutely. Blessing in the clothing aisle? Not so much. McKay often frequents the Tall Girl chain of stores for her unique clothing needs.\n"(Finding clothing) was a problem for a while, but I found a store here in the College Mall," McKay said. "I was in shock that I found some pants that were long enough."\nClothing objects aside, Sarah seems to have no trouble moving about with a "higher outlook" than most people have.\n"One thing about Sarah that makes her unique is that she's not a young lady who shrinks from her size," IU associate coach Trish Betthauser said. "She's very comfortable in her body, and you do not always see that. You see someone who's over six foot, and they're forced to play the game because they're tall, and that's not Sarah. She's comfortable with who she is."\nBasketball's been a part of her life for a long time. McKay said she has been playing the sport for as long as she can remember.\n"My dad played (basketball), so I was probably born with a basketball in my hands," McKay joked. "The first time I played on an actual team, I was going into the fourth grade. My brother got to start playing when he was going into the sixth grade, and I was really jealous. I was like 'Why can't we have a team?' So my dad and some of his friends put together a team of their daughters and neighborhood kids, and it all started."\nWith such a long history within the game of basketball, it's no surprise her most prized possession is an autographed Lisa Leslie ball. The 6 foot 5 inch WNBA star has long been one of McKay's heroes, and she got to meet Leslie in Seattle.\n"(Leslie) was doing a promo thing for Nike, and I met her. She signed a ball for me, we got pictures together and we actually went shopping. That was really cool," McKay said. \nShe said she was pretty star-struck at first, but then realized Leslie was just another person. \n"She said that she had never really stood beside someone taller than her, so she started talking about posture and how her mom always made her stand up straight and everything, all the tall things," McKay said. "It was really exciting for me."\nWhile Leslie will be dunking her way through the WNBA ranks, Sarah will be working on her own game right here at IU. However, no matter how far her basketball career goes, McKay is sure to point out that it was never because of her height.\n"I know a lot of people who play because they're tall, but even if I wasn't tall I definitely would play," McKay said. "Basketball's just a part of who I am."\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.