PG Samantha Prahalis (B1G Champ, 2x All-American, B1G POY, B1G Career Assists Leader, OSU HOF)

[BB73]

Samantha has set a freshman record for assists, and is one of 13 finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the nation's top point guard.

Dispatch

Prahalis' rapid rise bolsters Buckeyes
Freshman point guard's savvy, love of game show

At times the basketball seems as if it is an extension of her hands like a dollar bill attached by a prankster to a clear fishing line. Someone reaches for the prize and just as suddenly Samantha Prahalis takes it away.

This is symbiosis, not accident. Prahalis and a basketball have been inseparable since she discovered the game in elementary school.

"I'm always dribbling a ball, or have ball or want to have a ball," she said. "I just love the game. I love the basketball. Since I'm a point guard, I have a ball in my hands all the time."

When Ohio State (27-5) plays Sacred Heart (25-7) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Nationwide Arena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Prahalis will take the court as the starting freshman point guard for the third-seeded Buckeyes.

This is serendipitous, and also no accident. Three years ago, after being upset by Boston College in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, coach Jim Foster decided he wanted to turn Ohio State into a quicker, faster and more athletic team.

The transition could not happen without the right point guard. As soon as Foster saw Prahalis play in an AAU game between her sophomore and junior seasons at Commack (N.Y.) High School, he realized that he had found the guard he needed to reinvent the Buckeyes.

Cont'd ...

Official.bio

INTERNATIONAL
Named to the 2008 USA Women?s U18 National Team June 12, 2008 ... averaged 6.2 points, 3.4 assists and 2.0 steals as Team USA went 5-0 at the FIBA Americas Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina ... averaged 9.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.6 apg and 2.8 spg to help the USA White Team to a 5-0 record and gold medal at the 2007 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival in Colorado Springs, Colo. ... among all 2007 Festival participants, Prahalis ranked first in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.53), second in assists (23), tied for fifth in steals (14) and tied for ninth in 3-pointers made (4).
COMMACK HIGH SCHOOL
2008 McDonald's All-American ... Selected to the 2008 Parade Magazine All-America second team ... 2008 Women?s Basketball Coaches Association All-American ... 2007 and 2008 Long Island Player of the Year ... named to the New York State Sports Writers Association All-State first team in 2007 and 2008, fourth team in 2006 and eighth team in 2005 as a freshman ... finished her career with 2,372 points ... Gatorade Player of the Year in New York ... Averaged 30.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 7.2 steals her senior season as Commack High School finished 18-3 ... Scored 33 points in the Suffolk County Class AA championship game ... Averaged 23.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 5.2 steals as a junior, leading Commack High School to a 19-4 record and a 12-0 mark in conference play ... Ranked the 12th-best prospect in the country by All-Star Girls Report and the sixth-best point guard by HoopGurlz.com ... 25th-best prospect by Blue Star Basketball ... A six-year varsity starter ... second-team all-state selection by the New York State Sportswriters Association in 2007 and fourth team in 2006 ... an adidas Top 10 All-Star in 2006 ... started for Commack in the seventh grade, earning league rookie of the year honors and all-league honors five-consecutive years ... a four-time all-county selection ... as a freshman she was a New York Newsday second-team all-Long Island selection, which comprises of two counties, Nassau and Suffolk, and two sections of the NYSPHSAA ... a three-time LIAF Metro Classic participant and the 2007-08 Most Valuable Player ... Newsday first-team all-Long Island selection as a sophomore and junior ... Madison Square Garden Network High School Weekly All-Metro Team (includes NYC, Long Island, Northern New Jersey, Southwestern Connecticut and downstate New York) ... member of Exodus AAU team ... Nike Skills Development Camp participant ... dubbed ?The Show? by Glenn Nelson, publisher of HoopGurlz.com.

 

[GrizzlyBuck]

I don't watch a lot of Women's BBall, but have caught a couple Buckeye games this year. Prahalis is fun to watch, it's hard to believe she is only a freshman the way she controls a game and almost always makes good decisions, and it is great that we will not have to worry about her bolting to the Pro's after her Frosh campaign. She will be fun to watch in the Tourney and for the next three years, glad she chose to don S&G.

 

[Padraig]

I haven't been able to watch the Lady Bucks as much as I'd like either, but one game I caught was late in the year against Iowa. One particular play Iowa ran a high pick on Prahalis. The Ohio State post player (I don't remember if it was Lavender or Allen) switched and covered Iowa's guard, leaving Sammy to cover the much taller / 'wider' Iowa Big.

The Iowa player stuck her butt into Sammy and put up her hand, calling for the ball and probably figuring she was in position to score an easy two. But Prahalis was a BEAST! She fought her way through the arms of the much bigger girl, throwing her 'arm-bar' out of the way to regain frontal position. She was a water bug on steroids! It was awesome. The Iowa player never knew what hit her, and she never got the entrance pass due to Sammy's tough D (and probably due to the equally tough D from our big covering their guard on the switch as well).

It was a great play...I want to say we might have even caused a turn-over that possesion. But it showed me what great intensity Prahalis has as an all around basketball player. Going to LOVE watching her play for the Bucks the next few seasons!

:osu:

 

[leroyjenkins]

If you havent really gotten into womens bball, now is the time. This team is good, fun to watch, and is getting better. You never know what Sammys going to do, and it is amazing. I used to grow bored of the lay-up fest, that was WBB, but now I cant wait to watch them play!!

Go Bucks!!

 

[LitlBuck]

She can really do it all as far as I am concerned she could be the starting PG for the men's team. I can remember a couple games ago on a fast-break she threw the ball backwards between her legs to someone coming down on her right side. Amazing ballhandling skills. I really enjoy watching her.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

She can really do it all as far as I am concerned she could be the starting PG for the men's team. I can remember a couple games ago on a fast-break she threw the ball backwards between her legs to someone coming down on her right side. Amazing ballhandling skills. I really enjoy watching her.

I guess I was right when fighting with you about the womens team in the offseason...:tongue2:

 

[LitlBuck]

I guess I was right when fighting with you about the womens team in the offseason...:tongue2:

This is about Sammy:) let's talk about the team after they win a couple games in the NCAA

 

[NYTraveller]

Well, both Sammy (23 pts, 7 assists) and the team (beat SHU 77-63 today) are off to good starts in the NCAA tourney - next up is Mississippi St, the 11 seed who knocked off Texas today in the first game. Seed numbers aside, I actually think this might be a tougher draw for the Ladies than Texas would have been. Game is Monday @7 in Nationwide Arena.

 

[Buckskin86]

Prahalis' decision a sweet one
Steven Marcus
March 24, 2009

Her college coach credited Sammy Prahalis with taking the road less traveled when the former Commack High School star selected Ohio State over the few iconic names in women's basketball. That road has already led Prahalis to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

Her decision also becomes a teaching moment when it comes to the recruitment of high school athletes. Prahalis was wooed by the who's who college teams, including Connecticut and Tennessee. She could have made the safe choice and spent her career in the already established spotlight of those successful programs. And, if not for a body of support from her high school coach, parents and her own convictions, Prahalis might have gone the usual path.

Too many high school coaches get their own egos involved when that once-in-a-lifetime athlete comes along. To say the player they coached made it to the big time, regardless of the eventual outcome, may yield some gratification, but at what cost? Too many highs school players are pointed in the wrong direction.

Prahalis, with some appropriate guidance from her family and Commack coach Denis Conroy, decided to take the challenge of uplifting a program that has no grand tradition in the women's game.

Prahalis' career at Ohio State already has strong validation in her freshman year. There has been no downside. Ohio State coach Jim Foster told Prahalis exactly what her role would entail -- running the offense -- and there has been no deviation. Had she selected UConn, she might very well be on her way to a national championship, but her playing time would have been compromised. Truth be told, Prahalis said no to UConn when it inquired

Prahalis' decision a sweet one -- Newsday.com

 

[Jake]

I don't watch a lot of women's hoops but I'll watch our team, especially when we're Dancing. This girl plays as hard as any player I've ever seen, male or female. She's small, but not afraid to drive to the hoop and take what comes her way.

If you haven't seen her play check out the game this Saturday or Tivo it.

 

[LitlBuck]

I don't watch a lot of women's hoops but I'll watch our team, especially when we're Dancing. This girl plays as hard as any player I've ever seen, male or female. She's small, but not afraid to drive to the hoop and take what comes her way.

If you haven't seen her play check out the game this Saturday or Tivo it.

Yup, she is fearless and a pretty good ballhandler at that. If only the men's team had a player like her to play the PG we might have won a few more games this year

 

[Buckskin86]

Prahalis showing everyone her game is huge
BY ART SPANDER | Special to Newsday
March 29, 2009

BERKELEY, Calif. - If she had something to prove, as Sammy Prahalis believed she did, it has been proven. At 5-7, she looks up to most of the women in college basketball. Then again, as her first season draws to a close, nobody symbolically looks down on Sammy.

"It doesn't affect me that much," Prahalis - the former Commack star who now plays point guard for Ohio State - said of her size. "I go out to play. But I guess, because I am the smallest, I had something to prove because everyone else is so big."

Prahalis is the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and she and Big Ten Player of the Year Jantel Lavender led Ohio State to victory in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Prahalis had a career-high 23 points to go with seven assists in a first-round victory over Sacred Heart. Ohio State met second-seeded Stanford late last night in a regional semifinal.

Prahalis, a two-time Long Island Player of the Year and second-team Parade All-American, averaged 30.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game as a senior for Commack and finished with 2,373 points, second in Suffolk history. Now she has become the quintessential point guard, making all the pieces fit for Ohio State.

"Three times I've been in similar situations where freshmen were given the ball," said Jim Foster, who became the Buckeyes' coach in 2003 after long stints at Vanderbilt and St. Joseph's. "In all three situations, it was a byproduct of their intensity and how hard they played.

"Samantha is an absolutely terrific athlete that people enjoy watching play. She plays the same way at practice as she does in games. There is no saving herself ... Size is just one aspect of basketball. I think Samantha [may be] the smallest player on the court, but I think people will enjoy watching her."

Foster enjoys utilizing Prahalis' multiple skills. She led the Big Ten in assists with 5.79 per game and was first in assist-turnover ratio, seventh in steals and 23rd in scoring at 10.0 points per game.

"I definitely like fast-paced basketball," Prahalis said, and no one who has seen her would ever argue with that. Her New York accent has been quite noticeable in Ohio, too. "Yes," she said with a smile, "they kid me about it."

Prahalis showing everyone her game is huge -- Newsday.com

OSU women's basketball: Point guard's passion has dramatic effect
Thursday, March 26, 2009
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

What happened on the Ohio State women's basketball team this season seems to violate the basic rules of chemistry.

The Buckeyes already had a number of stable elements that might have settled together nicely when -- wham! -- a volatile compound was dropped in their midst.

Far from being disruptive, however, Samantha Prahalis provided a crucial shake-up.

Coaches who game-plan and strategize with the best of them can suffer through underachieving seasons because something elusive and ethereal stays just beyond their reach: team chemistry, the highly inexact science of how well people of different backgrounds and personalities work together.

Over and over this season, as the Buckeyes (29-5) jelled into the group that will play in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal Saturday against Stanford (31-4) in Berkeley, Calif., coach Jim Foster has said how much he likes this team.

Players talk about how much more fun they're having this season.

It's tempting to give all of the credit to Prahalis, the freshman point guard and a human version of a high-powered energy drink whose arrival spiked OSU's punch. But the team already was undergoing a change.

"You have to have a level of maturity to have good chemistry," Foster said. "And when you have mature players, you start to make mature decisions. You don't have the issues that can destroy chemistry."

BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : OSU women's basketball: Point guard's passion has dramatic effect

 

[LitlBuck]

I just love her enthusiasm for the game in addition to her ballhandling skills. I know that I certainly could have used them when I was her age:)

 

[LitlBuck]

Ohio State women's basketball

May 7, 2009
Prahalis, Hill receive USA Basketball invitations

OK, I wondered out loud yesterday why USA Basketball didn't invite Ohio State point guard Samantha Prahalis to the tryouts for its World University Games team. OSU teammate and junior-to-be Jantel Lavender was on that list.

Turns out there was a reason. Prahalis and Buckeye freshman-to-be Tayler Hill were among the 27 players invited today to the trials for the FIBA U(nder)-19 (years old) World Championship tournament in Bangkok, Thailand.

Prahalis, a sophomore-to-be, helped the United States qualify for that tournament last summer. Kelsey Bone, who will be a freshman at South Carolina next season, was on that team as was Sarah Boothe, a sophomore-to-be at Stanford.

More

Posted by Jim Massie on May 7, 2009 5:29 PM

 

[Buckskin86]

WBK: 2009 USA Basketball Women's U19 National Team Finalized
Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Release: 07/07/20009

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Featuring five athletes who helped the U.S. secure its berth to the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship, USA Basketball today announced the 12-member 2009 USA U19 World Championship Team. As the two-time defending U19 World Championship gold medalists, the USA will attempt to make it three straight golds at the '09 U19 Worlds, scheduled for July 23-Aug. 2 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The USA Women's U19 Team will train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., July 9-16 before departing for Bangkok.

Named to the 2009 USA U19 World Championship Team are returning USA Basketball gold medalists Kelsey Bone (Dulles H.S. /Stafford, Texas); Skylar Diggins (Washington H.S. / South Bend, Ind.); Kelly Faris (Heritage Christian H.S. / Plainfield, Ind.); Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Stanford / Cypress, Texas) and Samantha Prahalis (Ohio State / Dix Hills, N.Y.), who helped the U.S. advance to the '09 U19 Worlds by claiming gold at the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship.

Also selected for the '09 USA U19 Team were: LaSondra Barrett (Louisiana State / Jackson, Miss.); Layshia Clarendon (Cajon H.S. / San Bernadino, Calif.); Shenise Johnson (Miami, Fla. / Henrietta, N.Y.); C'eira Ricketts (Arkansas / Louisville, Ky.); Chay Shegog (North Carolina / Stafford, Va.); Taber Spani (Metro Academy / Lee's Summit, Mo.); and Destiny Williams (Benton Harbor H.S. / Benton Harbor, Mich.).

WBK: 2009 USA Basketball Women's U19 National Team Finalized - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com