WNBA player wears many hats

GENEVA, N.Y. – She was born on Aug. 5, 1976, during the final day of the Montreal Olympics, so her mom thought it would be cool to call her Olympia.

It’s a name that works because since that time, Olympia Scott-Richardson has been living life as if it were an Olympics.

You’ve heard of role models; Scott-Richardson is a roles model.

Professional basketball player. College coach. Loving mom. Songwriter. Parenting counselor. Devoted daughter.

“I have a lot of interests and a lot of responsibilities,” says the veteran WNBA forward, who took over as the William Smith College women’s basketball coach last October. “I’m juggling a lot, but I guess I’m pretty organized. I know how to multitask.”

Recently, she managed to juggle three things at once. She oversaw a practice, kept an eye on her 5-year-old daughter BreAzia and conducted an interview with a reporter without missing a beat.

Scott-Richardson had planned to take some time off after her season with the Charlotte Sting concluded last fall. But when Sting teammate Dawn Staley told her of the opening at William Smith, Scott-Richardson immediately called Susan Bassett, the school’s athletic director.

“I could tell just by our early phone conversations that she would be a great fit for us,” Bassett said. “She just struck me as a person of real substance.”

Scott-Richardson beat out 40 applicants for the job.

“I had wanted to become a head coach eventually, but I really thought I would have to become an assistant at the college first,” she says. “But Susan and the other members of the search committee were kind enough to give me a shot, and I believe it’s worked out well for both sides.”

Inheriting a roster featuring seven freshmen and just one senior, Scott-Richardson has the Herons (8-3 Liberty League, 13-7 overall) streaking toward the postseason.

A veteran of six WNBA seasons, Scott-Richardson commanded her players’ respect the instant she walked into the gymnasium for her first practice last October.

“Here’s a woman who is at the top of her profession as a player, so you automatically want to listen to everything she has to say,” says Ivy Parker, a senior from Corcoran High School in Syracuse, N.Y. “How many college players in any sport say they are being coached by a professional athlete who’s still playing? It’s an honor.”

Although she often walks onto the court to demonstrate a point, Scott-Richardson has refused to participate in scrimmages. At 6-foot-2, she towers over all of her players and her shot-blocking skills would only serve to demoralize.

“She has this picture in her office of her hand above the rim blocking a shot during a WNBA game – it’s pretty awesome,” says freshman guard Marisa Vespa. “It would be fun to have her out there, but it would be very intimidating.”

Scott-Richardson’s players are a reflection of her. She has instilled in them a quiet confidence. They hustle from end to end and play tenacious team defense.

“We are a young team, so I thought it was necessary to develop our mental toughness,” she said.

“So much of sports is mental. I figure if they can survive those (drills), they’ll have no problem being fresh in the fourth quarter of games.”