St. John's University Athletics
Quotes by Coach Tartamella On WNBA Draft
4/16/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
April 16, 2013
Head Coach Joe Tartamella
On having the first-ever St. John's women's basketball player selected in the WNBA Draft:
"This was an extraordinary night for two of our young ladies, Nadirah McKenith and Shenneika Smith, who became the first-ever WNBA draft picks in our program history. It was also a special night for our community and women's basketball program as a whole and I couldn't be prouder of these two young ladies. I have had the opportunity to not only watch these two play as young players in high school, but also be someone who was able to recruit them over time, and then to become their head coach as well. It is something special to me and I really have a lot of pride that I was able to watch these two young ladies grow up before my eyes. It just shows how special St. John's is and what our players can be capable of as part of our program."
On what Nadirah McKenith can contribute to the Washington Mystics:
"Nadirah has the ability to be a leader and she brings an extremely talented skill set to the point guard position for Washington and I hope she is able to contribute for them in whatever capacity they need. She couldn't be more excited to have the opportunity to be able to prove herself at the professional level. This has been a dream of hers for her whole life and I am so happy that she is going to be able to do it and we wish her the best as she gets ready for camp."
On what Shenneika Smith can contribute to the New York Liberty:
Shenneika gets the opportunity to stay home in New York, which is great for her and will be one of the pluses for New York if they do feel that she will be able to contribute to their team. She has obviously been a tremendous scorer for us over time but also can defend and play at multiple positions. They are getting a very versatile and athletic player, who can score the ball; which is always important at the professional level. Her versatility will be her strength and that will be a key factor in getting her on the floor for the Liberty."
On the impact for the women's basketball program on having two WNBA draft picks:
"Tonight speaks volumes of where our program is headed and our ability for our program to have players that will have the opportunity to get drafted into the pros. That is something that we have always been trying to build toward as a program over the last few years and this just shows what our players are capable of and we are really proud of the fact that we got not just one, but two players go in the same draft."
