While Tom Church and the Saint Joseph’s University men’s basketball squad will compete in the Division II Elite Eight today, another Ashtabula Countian and her teammates will begin their part in an even bigger dance.

Shay Selby, a Geneva resident, is a key member of the Duke Blue Devils (27-5) , one of the premiere Division I women’s basketball programs in the country. Today, Selby & Co. will tangle with Hampton (20-11) at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament. The game will tip off at 2:30 p.m and be broadcast on ESPN2.

“We’re excited, we’re ready to get after it,” the 2008 Regina High School graduate said by telephone from her dorm in Durham, N.C.. “Everyone is looking forward to the game.

“It should be a lot of fun.”

It had been two years since we last talked with Selby, who at that time was just embarking on the tournament trail as a senior star for coach Pat Diulus’ Royals.

Now, as was the case then, the goal hasn’t changed.

“A championship,” Selby, the eldest of the four children of Tim and Debbie Mayle of Geneva, said. “That’s what our goal is.

“Sure, we know we have to take one game at a time and anyone can beat anyone, but our big picture is the Final Four and then to win it all.”

Duke is the second seed in the Memphis Regional, behind only top-seeded Tennessee (30-2), while Hampton is the 15th seed. The winner of today’s game gets a second-round matchup against the winner of today’s first game in Durham between seventh-seeded Louisiana State (20-9) and 10th-seeded Hartford (27-4) on Monday, a game that will also be played on Duke’s home floor at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“We’re loving being able to play at home,” Selby said. “Being able to sleep in our own beds... you can’t beat that.”



A different world

Now a sophomore, the 5-foot-9 combo guard admitted she feels much more comfortable, both in her skin and in her uniform, than the did as a freshman at Duke, a perennial Atlantic Coast Conference power.

“It’s like night and day, actually,” she said with a laugh. “I came in here last year as a freshman and had no idea what to expect, both on the floor and in the classroom.

“It certainly was an eye-opening experience for me.”

The academic side proved to be a challenge.

“You really have to stay after it, be responsible and do everything it takes or you can’t make it,” Selby said. “There isn’t any shortcut. You have to work very hard, study, read and really work at it.”

On the floor, Selby was accustomed to doing pretty much anything she wanted. A dominating performer pretty much since she began dribbling a basketball under the watchful eye of her father almost out of the crib, the elite Division I level proved to be a challenge.

“To say the least!” she added with another laugh. “I got down here and everyone was as good as me and a lot were better. It wasn’t something I was used to.

“It definitely took me some time to adjust.”

Still, Selby made an impact for the Blue Devils as a true freshman. She played in 26 games, averaging about nine minutes per contest.

Compared to the gaudy numbers she had put up at Regina (she averaged 24.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 4.5 steals a game as a senior at the South Euclid high school), her averages of 2.7 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists paled in comparison. However, it was all relative. Selby wasn’t playing against girls. She was playing against women on the highest level possible for an amateur, and doing so as a true freshman.

Still, there were flashes. She had a season-high 14 points in a win against Temple and had a season-high five rebounds in a big victory against Southern California.

Turns out, there was caveat.

Selby was playing on an aching left knee. Finally, after her first season at Duke, she had it taken care of.

“I had microfracture surgery,” she said. “It repaired some cartilage damage I had.”

Microfracture is becoming more and more common in this day and age. Former Browns tight end Kellen Winslow and Phoenix Suns stare Amare Stoudemire have gone through the procedure and returned to play in the NFL and NBA, respectively.

The surgery is done on people who have small amounts of damage in the cartilage of their knee joint and on the underside of their kneecap. It can help people avoid the need for a partial or total knee replacement or, as was the case with Selby, is used to treat pain in the knee from cartilage injuries. A quarter-inch incision is made and then a surgeon drills three holes in the bone near the damaged area releases cells in the bones and allows the body to build new cartilage to replaced the damaged cartilage.

In other words, ouch!

“Naw, it really wasn’t that bad,” Selby said with a laugh. “It was just something that needed to be done.”

How long had she played with the pain.

“I did it during my senior year at Regina,” she said. “It hurt, but I just toughed it out and kept playing.”



Back on track

Selby came out of the surgery just fine and after another summer of her almost-legendary offseason workouts, she is back, better than ever, wearing the Duke blue and white.

She proudly talked about how she did in the classroom last semester.

“Four A’s and a B-plus!” the young lady who wants to go into forensic science said enthusiastically. “I’m much more comfortable in the classroom this year.”

Apparently, that’s the case on the basketball court, too. This season, she is a member of coach Joanne P. McCallie’s rotation, one that numbers only eight.

And while her numbers aren’t spectacular — 3.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists per game on 36-percent shooting from the floor — Selby is playing regular minutes on one of the top teams in the country.

Then, there’s this nugget, which all basketball junkies will appreciate — she leads the Blue Devils in charges taken.

All the while, wearing a fitted brace on her surgically repaired left knee.

“I don’t like it, but I’m used to it by now,” she said. “I only have to wear it this season, then I can get rid of it. It’s no big deal.”

But she and her teammates certainly are.

Selby and her Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament championship teammates are part of as a program that has won 12 straight NCAA tournament games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The only team to beat the Blue Devils on their home floor since 2008? Top-ranked and undefeated Connecticut, which has won a record 72 consecutive games headed into the tournament.

“I’m excited about (today’s) game,” Selby said. “We all are. We have big goals, but it all starts with the first step, and that’s Hampton.

“We’re not looking past them. We know we have to go out and play and play well.

“I’m glad to be here and to be a part of it.”



McCormack is the sports editor of the Star Beacon. Reach him at donmac@suite224.net.



COMING SUNDAY — More with Shay Selby as she touches on the great season of the Geneva girls this winter, the UConn women and her summer plans.