Former Cal State San Bernardino All American Vanessa Wilt is headed to the Netherlands to play professional basketball.
The 6-foot-1 center signed last week to play with the Leiderdorp Basketball Club which is based out of the city by the same name. She will leave today.
“I have a lot of emotions,” said Wilt, a graduate of Sultana High School. “One day I’m scared death and I’m wondering what in the world I’m doing. Then the next day I’m excited and I can’t wait.”
Wilt spent two years at NAIA Cal Baptist, but transferred to Cal State for her junior season. As a senior she led the CCAA conference in scoring (18.9 ppg), rebounding (13.4 rpg), field goal percentage (54.7) and blocked shots (71). Those numbers also put her among the national leaders. Wilt finished second in the nation in rebounding, eighth in blocked shots, 23rd in field goal percentage and 26th in scoring.
Wilt accumulated 25 double-doubles (points and rebounds) in 29 games this season and 36 for her two-year career, in which she led the Coyotes to a 38-19 record and the first back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances since the university moved to Division II in 1991-92.
She smashed the team’s single-season record for blocked shots (old mark was 59), giving her 112 for two seasons, one shy of the all-time career mark of 113. Her 388 rebounds was a single-season record as was her rebounds per game average. She tied the team’s single-game scoring record with 39 in a game at home against Cal State Los Angeles.
Wilt said another team in the same league contacted Coyotes coach Kevin Becker two months ago. She talked with that team several times but that team signed a couple of other American players, leaving her out in the cold since clubs can have no more than two foreign players on their roster.
She thought the opportunity was dead and registered for classes at Cal State to work toward finishing her degree. Then the other team contacted her last week. She is thrilled with the opportunity.
“I never thought I was going to be good enough to play in college, let alone professional basketball,” she said. “So I’m thrilled. It will be a challenge.”
The team made arrangements for her flight and housing. She will be sharing a house with the other American player who competed at the University of South Dakota. Pay will be $1,000 a month with her living expenses (with the exception of food) paid for by the club.
“I am very happy for her,” Becker said. “Not a lot of players get this chance. If she had turned it down, who knows if it would have come up again because there are more and more great college players coming out every year.”
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