The Arizona Wildcats had a friendly voice calling their 66-58 victory over Washington on Sunday — Kelsey Plum.
So did the Huskies.
Plum, a women’s college basketball legend who made her Pac-12 Networks debut as an analyst last week, has ties to both teams. She was recruited to UW by Adia Barnes, who’s now the Wildcats’ head coach. As a Huskies senior, she played alongside Aari McDonald, who is now the UA’s best player.
Having ties to both teams could have put put a little more pressure on Plum during her first weekend as a Pac-12 Networks analyst. But that’s not how she rolls.
With less than 20 seconds left in the game, Washington’s Amber Melgoza — who played with Plum — was fouled and went to the free-throw line. Plum said that it was too late — that Melgoza should have been aggressive much earlier.
“One of the things in life I take pride in is being straight up,” Plum said. “Commentators can be fluffy; that’s not my style. It was my goal to be neutral. It was not about me. That’s a comment I would make to Amber after the game and she knows it. It’s just me being honest. She needs to be more aggressive down the stretch. I would say the same thing to Aari or any other player.”
Plum knows all about being aggressive at the right time. She is the all-time women’s Division I scoring leader with 3,527 points. She finished 270 points shy of owning the all-time record regardless of gender, a mark held by LSU legend Pete Maravich. She owns the Pac-12 scoring mark for both men and women.
Plum made her Pac-12 Networks debut in Friday’s Washington-Arizona State game, then called Sunday’s Wildcats win, which earned Arizona earned its first road sweep since the 2011 season. The Wildcats beat Washington State 74-67 Friday night.
If Plum’s jump to the other side of the mic while still a player sounds familiar, it should. Barnes took the same path when she was a professional player. In fact, Plum interned for Barnes when she was a broadcaster for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm.
“It’s come full circle,” Plum said.
Naturally, Plum asked Barnes for some advice before her debut. She also reached out to Ros Gold Onwude, the former Stanford standout and basketball analyst, and relied heavily on broadcast partner Guy Haberman.
Plum watched Arizona on film before Saturday. She said the tape doesn’t prepare you for McDonald and her speed.
“You can’t catch or imitate speed,” Plum said. “I know how fast Aari is — I went against her in practice every day. You can think someone is fast and this is how I’ll guard you and slow you down, when you are in it there is nothing like it. Aari is the fastest guard in the country. She is the fastest with the ball and it’s an elite skill. Most players aren’t built like that. Aari is pretty special.”
Plum said it was fun to call a game McDonald was playing.
“Any time she catches the ball it could be on ESPN’s Top 10,” she said. “It’s what you want as a fan and you appreciate it. (As an analyst) I caught myself like ‘OMG!’ But, I can’t do that on a broadcast. Aari has a very rare skill set.”
Two other Wildcats who stood out for Plum were Thomas — her versatility, defense and strength — and Cate Reese — for her ability to finish inside.
After the game, Plum went back and rewatched the broadcast to see how she fared.
Barnes wasn’t surprised.
“No, not at all,” Barnes said. “I think it’s a great opportunity. She’s so knowledgeable about the game — and she plays it. Kelsey will work so hard to get better and she’ll be really good at it, because that’s who Kelsey is.”
Plum won back-to-back Turkish League championships with Fenerbahçe and also won a Turkish Cup last season. She’s staying in the United States this offseason as part of Team USA, which is making a college tour as it prepares for the Summer Olympics. Team USA plays UConn Monday and Louisville on Feb. 2. The next round of the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament starts Feb. 6 against Serbia.
Rim shots
- Arizona (15-3, 4-3) jumped back up to No. 18 in the AP poll Monday morning.
- Reese sprained a ligament in her finger during the first half against Washington on Sunday. She came back with a taped hand and wrist the second half and got the Wildcats going, scoring the first six points. Reese finished with 10 points, six rebounds, two steals and one block.
Barnes tweeted Tuesday that she wants to see fans fill McKale Center — capacity: 14,644 — for Friday’s “Red Out” game against rival and No. 16-ranked Arizona State (15-4, 5-2). Arizona is trying to top the 13,163 fans who watched South Carolina beat Mississippi State on Monday night, the largest single-game crowd of the season so far. The Pac-12 single-game record for this season belongs to Oregon, which drew 12,218 for Thursday’s game against Stanford. This weekend’s rivalry game between Oregon and Oregon State at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene is already a sellout — 12,364.
