New Campers

The Storm signed four players to training camp contracts Tuesday, guards Dee Davis and Doneeka Lewis and forwards Kristen O'Neill and Leah Rush.

Presumably, Lewis should need no real introduction, having spent the second half of last season in Seattle. If you need a refresher, here's the blog I wrote when she first joined the Storm on a seven-day contract.


O'Neill should also be a familiar name. She's an Edmonds native who played collegiately at the University of Washington, graduating in 2006. If you've lost track of O'Neill since then, she started this off-season in Spain before moving to Ireland in the New Year. Here's a blog from O'Neill talking about her experience in Ireland.


I'm not sure how reliable the statistics on the Irish Superleague Women site are, but they have O'Neill playing four games (this is what I question, not the stats themselves) and averaging 24.3 points and 12.5 rebounds per game, shooting 46.8% from the field. O'Neill's UL Aughnish team was apparently eliminated in the semifinals of the playoffs.


Davis and Rush were both in the 2007 Draft, and as I work on this year's profiles by position, it's interesting to go back and see what I wrote about them a year ago.


Here's Davis: "A mighty mite, Davis is as quick as anyone this side of (Ivory) Latta. Like (Lyndsey) Medders, she's more of a set-up point guard than a scoring type, peaking at 13.3 points per game as a sophomore (when Vanderbilt won two games at Hec Edmunson Pavilion to advance to the Sweet Sixteen). Davis handed out 6.8 assists per game as a junior and 5.5 per game as a senior. At this level, Davis' size and lack of three-point range will work against her, but Davis has shown the heart to overcome those weaknesses."


and Rush: "A budding star in the post as a sophomore, when she averaged 15.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, Rush had to adjust her game when Courtney Paris and twin sister Ashley arrived on campus before her junior season. Rush's averages (9.8 points, 4.0 rebounds) were relatively pedestrian as a senior, but she is comfortable in the supporting role she would likely be asked to play in the WNBA."


Davis was taken by the Comets with the first pick of the second round and played three games for Houston. Rush went to Phoenix early in round three and was one of the team's last cuts.

As for the off-season, Rush has played in Sweden with Lulea Basket alongside former Sacramento center Brittany Wilkins. Davis is with BC Zeljeznicar in Sarajevo, a squad which also competed in the Eurocup. In Eurocup play, Davis averaged 14.1 points, 5.0 assists (third in the league) and 3.3 rebounds per game.