Bone at home in creating a new hoops buzz

Don't ask.

The 6-foot-5 woman with the big smile shooting baskets at "the Strom" wellness center or noshing on a burrito at Moe's is who you think she is:

The coolest thing to hit Columbia since central air and the reason to believe Dawn Staley has a chance to turn around the fortunes of USC's women's basketball program in her second season.

Meet Kelsey Bone, the Gamecocks' BWOC — Big Woman on Campus.

During the first session of summer school in June, Bone would be shooting at the Strom or the Gamecocks' practice facility when she'd notice a crowd of boys that had wandered over from Darrin Horn's camp to gather around the tall girl.

"It was like we had an audience because a lot of people were just like, 'Oh, my God, are you her?' " Bone said. "And I'm like, 'Yeah, that's me.'"

It might not match the buzz that surrounds the arrival of a ballyhooed football prospect, but the fact that Bone drew the interest of curious onlookers last month is a good sign for a program that flies below the radar of most sports fans in Columbia.

"The university isn't known for women's basketball. I felt like they brought this coaching staff in to do big things," Bone said. "So why not be able to go and learn from (Staley and her staff). Their resumes speak for themselves."

Bone, ranked the nation's No. 2 recruit by one women's basketball Web site, said she chose the Gamecocks "to be able to come here, lay the foundation and start something new."

That she picked USC over Texas and Texas A&M, both of which are within a couple hours of her home in suburban Houston, did not sit well with a few family members initially.

Bone's father, Warren Bone, played football at Texas Southern, and an uncle ran track at the school. So relatives are not accustomed to using frequent flier miles to watch family in sporting events.

"I had a couple aunts and uncles that were like, 'Why are you going so far?' " Bone said.

As an Olympic hopeful, Bone liked the idea of playing for a staff of gold medal winners while helping build a program that went 10-18 with a 2-12 SEC mark in Staley's first season.

"I think she knows what she means to our program," Staley said. "This is what she wanted. She wanted to bring some tradition to our program. She knew her signing with us would be a big deal around here."

Bone was the McDonald's All-American Player of the Year after averaging 20.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks from her center position and leading Dulles High to a 36-3 record.

But Staley said Bone must improve her conditioning to get ready for the SEC.

"I think she was caught by surprise as to how we operate on this level," Staley said. "But after week one, I think she's transitioned well. Week one was hard for her, but that was to be expected."

And while Bone said it might take her "a minute" to adjust to the college game, she does not expect USC's rebuilding project to drag on too long.

"Winning two games in the SEC just can't happen this year," she said. "We've got to win more than 10 on the total season. We're trying to make it to the tournament."

Before she faces off against SEC foes, Bone will take on some of the world's best players at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bone will be in Colorado Springs, Colo., on July 9 to begin training with the U.S. under-19 team, which must pare its roster from 14 to 12 players before heading to Bangkok for the 16-team tournament that runs July 23-Aug 2.

Bone, who has played on two previous national teams, is confident she will make the final cut, but takes nothing for granted.

"I'm truly blessed every time I get that (USA Basketball) packet in the mail," said Bone, who recently finished reading a book on the 1996 Olympic team that featured Staley and USC assistants Nikki McCray and Carla McGhee.

Staley said — making sure to knock on wood — that a serious injury is the only thing that would keep Bone off a future Olympic team.

"I'd be highly disappointed if she wasn't an Olympian," she said.

Bone gets her size from her father's side of the family — at 6-6, her dad is the shortest of three brothers — but pointed out that her mother, Kim Williams, is fairly tall.

"My mom's no midget. She's about 5-8 herself. So something had to happen."

During the spring of her senior year, Bone gave in to the pestering of her school's track coach and threw the shot put. She did it as a stress-reliever as she prepared to make her college choice, but had friends shaking their heads when she won the first meet she competed in and finished second at districts.

"Then everybody was like, 'Well, everything you do, are you good at?'"

Not really, concedes Bone, who said she never caught on to soccer and does not have the hand-eye coordination needed for softball. She also was pleased the dance appreciation course she took this summer did not require her to dance.

"I would have been very opposed to that," she said. "I probably would have pulled an F if they'd made me dance."

But it is her basketball skills that have made Bone the new "It Girl" on campus — a label she would prefer to share.

"I hope people are really excited about me being here," she said. "But I want them to be more excited about what our team's about to do this year, because I can't go out and win all these basketball games by myself."

Staley hopes she can at least lead the way.

-------------------

USC's top big women

A look at some of the best big women on USC teams in past.

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.