Main Man/Woman of the Month!

Check out Ruth Riley greatest achievement below

(Photo: Daniel Anaya)

Ruth Riley – u.s olympic girl
has a achieved a lot in her life, and in basketball. Just for starts she has recently won a Olympic gold medal. Sh is truly a winner a great role model for a U.S. Olympic Girl!
This is just the start of the long list of great achievements in her life and in basketball.

2006 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team Gold Medalist
2003 WNBA Championship Final Title
2003 Finals MVP
2001 The No. 5 overall pick by the Miami Sol in the WNBA Draft
2001 Naismith and Associated Press College Player of the Year
2001
NCAA women’s national title

2001 Big East Conference regular season championship
2000 led her team to the sweet sixteen
1999 World University Games Silver medalist
1998 led her team to the sweet sixteen
1997 All-America honorable mention by USA Today also earned all-state honors

1998-2001 at the University of Notre Dame (Ind.), the Fighting Irish compiled a 109-22 record (.832 winning percentage)

The Life of Riley

On April 2, 2001, Ruth Riley and her teammates at Notre Dame inspired a nation with their selfless play as they captured the school’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship.
With Dave Branon

On April 2, 2001, Ruth Riley and her teammates at Notre Dame inspired a nation with their selfless play as they captured the school’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship. Riley, the Naismith Player of the Year, was remarkable—scoring 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 10 free throws—in leading the Irish past Purdue 68-66. Riley went on to play for two years with the Miami Sol in the WNBA and spent the offseason before the 2003 WNBA year playing in Spain. In April, the Detroit Shock of the WNBA picked Riley in the dispersal draft of players from two failed WNBA teams. Sports Spectrum recently talked with Riley about growing up in Indiana and growing in her faith in Jesus Christ.

Sports Spectrum: Talk about the town of Macy, Indiana, where you grew up.

Ruth Riley: Macy is your typical small Indiana town. It boasts approximately 380 people, has a few stop signs, two churches, and an obligatory post office. The people live the simple, quiet lives that are associated with the surrounding farming community. Over the years I have heard many jokes about my hometown, but I love it. I love the fact that life is slower and more relaxed, many people today still don’t lock their doors at night, and you wave to everyone you pass on the country dirt roads—because the odds of not knowing that person are very slim.

SS: You grew up in a single-parent home as the middle child. What did your mom do to provide for you and your siblings?

Riley: We moved more times than I can count on both hands, but most of my life was spent living on a farm. For the most part we never did the actual farming ourselves. My mom was a single parent raising my older sister Rachel, younger brother Jacob, and myself. Mom always found a way to provide us with the basics. We knew what it was like to go without a lot of things, but we didn’t mind—because we were going without together. Going without worldly resources caused us to be more creative in how we approached things, and I also learned the reward of hard work—and the sense of accomplishment that came along with it.

SS: What are some of the core values and lessons your mom taught you?

Riley: My mom started off as a beautician, working in a shop adjacent to our house—this enabled her to be an active part of our lives. It was important to her to be there to raise us, and I’m grateful that she was always around. I grew up attending church, and my mom emphasized Christian morals and values in us kids. I was raised with a solid understanding of what is right and wrong. Respect was something Mom demanded of us, and it has had a lasting effect on my life. Respecting my elders, teachers, peers; and respecting differences: cultures, environments, and opinions.

SS: How did you cope with being tall, and how did your mom help you with it?

Riley: Many people ask me if I have always been tall, and to that I answer emphatically “Yes!” My sister and I were the same height when I was 18 months old and she was 3. Unfortunately, I haven’t always handled my height so well. “Sit up straight” and “Walk proud” were constant instructions from my mother. For children, anything out of the ordinary is subject to criticism, and I found a lot of it thrown my way. Self-confidence was something I definitely lacked; therefore, my personality was a lot more withdrawn than it is today. I was extremely shy and opened up only to those I felt comfortable around. Athletics became my way of escape, and through basketball I found my acceptance. I grew up as one of the boys, and I loved it.

SS: What was life like for you at North Miami High School?

Riley: Through the combination of my mom emphasizing academics and being extremely competitive in nature, I was able to excel in school as well as have athletic success. I moved from a very large junior high school in Grove City, Ohio, where I was definitely not an impact player (second and third string) to my tiny high school (83 in my graduating class). As the tallest girl in the school, I found myself the starting center by default. A college scholarship was something I had always dreamed about, but not something I thought would be a reality until I started receiving recruiting letters. Soon I found myself in the complex process of college recruiting. I received letters from every major US university, and I was facing one of the biggest decisions of my life. My mom was there for support, but the decision was mine. Notre Dame was always at the top of my list and the only place I went to visit before I signed.

SS: Were you able to maintain a normal life at Notre Dame while pursuing your studies and basketball?

Riley: The transition to college was a hard one for me. College athletics are demanding, and time management proves to be one of the most important lessons to learn as a freshman. I suddenly found myself training twice as much as I had been used to, taking classes more intense than I had ever seen, and trying in my shy way to meet new people and fit in socially.

Everyone adjusts differently, and a lot of that has to do with personality and what a person wants to achieve. I knew what I wanted, and I knew it would mean a lot of sacrifices, but I was willing to make them. Was I able to be a “normal student” and play college basketball? No, but that isn’t something I feel I missed. It’s a trade-off. Although I missed out on a lot of social events most students were able to do, I also experienced a lot through basketball they weren’t able to. I put my social life on the shelf my first few years at Notre Dame. I was more interested in getting good grades and improving on the court.

As a young player, you think sacrifice is the only way to success, but as I have gotten older I realize sacrifice is essential, but there has to be a balance to it. My senior year I finally found the balance I needed, and I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything. I left my college career with an amazing education from a university I learned to love, the highest level of success achievable on the collegiate level, and friends and acquaintances for a lifetime. I have been blessed!

It was at college where my relationship with the Lord began to grow. When you are on your own and forced to make decisions for yourself—your faith and beliefs are tested, and tested a lot in an intellectual environment. I had a great foundation in Jesus Christ, but it was more of the faith of a child—simple, blind faith. My later years at Notre Dame, I found a great group of fellow Christian athletes—older ones I could look up to. Athletics are very demanding of your time, and you really have to be careful that it doesn’t affect your priorities. Faith, family, and school—basketball were always the order I professed concerning my priorities, and I found that my faith and family were sacrificed a lot in the early years.

SS: Your senior year at Notre Dame must seem like a storybook year. As you review that remarkable season, what stands out?

Riley: There were numerous highlights of my senior year. On the court would definitely be winning a national championship. We had a special class of five seniors who had gone through so much together—it was a perfect end to our collegiate career. Off the court would have to be graduation day. My sister Rachel and I graduated together, and it was such an emotional day to experience with all my friends and family.

SS: Can you talk about when you trusted Christ as your Savior and what has prompted your growth as a believer?

Riley: A lot of people know exactly to the day when they gave their life to Christ. I do not have that information. I grew up in church, always believed what I had learned, and I know that I trusted Jesus as my personal Savior when I was young. The significance of my relationship with Him is what changed over the years. Once I got to college, I started to intellectually understand what my heart already knew. During my two years with the Miami Sol in the WNBA, I grew an amazing amount, and in my time over in Spain even more so.

With every life change comes an adjustment, and that was definitely true for my rookie season in the WNBA. For the first time I found myself a long, long way from home. I was homesick at first and trying to live up to the expectations of their top draft pick.

I was fortunate to have some Christian teammates and a Christian assistant coach. One of my favorite things about the WNBA is the fact that every team has a designated chaplain and chapel service before the game. Arlene DeBardelaben proved to be my spiritual mentor, and I am so blessed for that. Everyone should have someone they trust and can come to with questions or for guidance. For the first time in my life I had time to read and study the materials I chose to—not more classes or required reading. Before then I sadly admit my devotion to God’s Word on a regular basis was very poor. Arlene provided me with books and tapes that aided in my spiritual growth. Although I was now immersed in the life of professional athletics, which is not exactly a godly atmosphere, I found myself growing more than I ever had before.

One strong test of my faith came after I had trained in Miami for the entire off-season, and the day before our first game I found that I had broken my little finger on my shooting hand. I had never before had an injury that kept me from playing this sport, and it was definitely a test of patience and character. The whole season proved to be a struggle and ended with the knowledge that the Sol would no longer be a franchise in the WNBA. Oddly enough, this did not bother me—I had confidence that where I would be next would be part of God’s plan. So now I’m in Detroit!

During my season in Spain, I played in Valencia, Spain, for a team called Ros Casares. We lost in the Euroleague play-offs, won the Spanish Cup, and made it to the finals of the Spanish league. Basketball-wise this was really what I needed. I needed a healthy season to just play and get back in the flow and get my confidence back after an injury-filled WNBA season.

I can honestly say that my relationship with God grew the most while I was in Spain. One of the first things you will notice in Spain is the lack of Christianity. Although most of the country is Catholic, I would say this is true of mostly the older generations. I came equipped with many books to read, and Arlene sent me tapes to listen to. I also received tapes from my church back in Miami (Calvary Chapel). My Spanish has improved, and I was blessed to find fellowship at a local church where two American missionaries had found a home. Two amazing workbooks, Experiencing God and The Purpose Driven Life, helped me immensely.

SS: What is hard about being 23 years old in this society and trying to live for Jesus all the time?

Riley: Every day is a challenge, whether you are 23 or 63, to live a life for Christ. He made a point in telling us that following Him is not going to be easy in this world. Many people in their early 20s are on their own, pursuing success on worldly terms, and not really focused on their faith. Many people I have come into contact with believe in God but see religion as something they will “start practicing” once they get older.

Everyone has this innate desire to be accepted, and that sometimes keeps me from vocalizing my faith—fear of rejection from my peers. This is something I am constantly working on. The challenges I find are being unafraid to be open about my faith, especially with my semi-reserved personality. This is an area I have improved a lot in, but I still have a long way to go. Basketball has provided me with a platform, which means my life is under constant scrutiny. I find one of the biggest challenges is living what I believe—this is a challenge we all face every day.

SS: How did you find out that the Shock had drafted you in the dispersal draft?

Riley: Coach Bill Laimbeer called me to tell me that I was with the Detroit Shock. I’m excited, because I see this as an opportunity to start over, but this time with experience. It’s going to be fun to watch. I’m looking forward to learning a lot from Coach Laimbeer—having a coach with so much success and experience in post play is not a common occurrence.

Copyright © 2003 Sports Spectrum.

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