No More Apologies WSU’s Sophomore Center Adapts To More Aggressive Play

Washington State sophomore center Yvonne Kunze is as friendly as she is tall. The problem sometimes is that being nice at 6-feet-4 on the basketball court doesn’t necessarily work to one’s advantage.

In Kunze’s freshman year, she may have spent more time apologizing than she did scoring points and grabbing rebounds.

“Because of her size, her own teammates have inadvertently run into her and they end up getting hurt,” Cougars coach Harold Rhodes said.

“Last year, she spent so much time apologizing in practice and in games checking to make sure that anyone she flattened was all right. I finally said, ‘OK, Yvonne. Enough of this.”’

Day after day in practice, however, Kunze, a native of Berlin, was matched up against former WSU center Kireen Ellis. And Ellis was the epitome of attitude and aggressiveness on the court.

“She did a lot for me,” Kunze said. “She was always telling me, ‘Girl, you’ve got to get tough on the inside and start pushing some people around.”’

Rhodes and the Cougars owe Ellis a debt of thanks because, since Kunze has been in the starting lineup, Washington State is 4-0. The Cougars, 12-3 overall, 3-1 in conference, play host to the Washington Huskies (9-6, 3-1) in a Pacific-10 Conference game tonight at 7 at Friel Court.

In order for the Huskies to have success, they must clearly find a way to limit Kunze’s play inside because she has finally gotten tough. She is the fourth-leading scorer on the team at 11.2 points a game and the second-leading rebounder with 6.3 a game.

“In Kireen, Yvonne saw that you can compete hard and be tough on the court, but that didn’t translate into you being mean and not liking people off it,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes first heard of Kunze when a friend of his in the military saw her play in high school. Rhodes sent former assistant Kellee Knowles (now Kellee Barney and the head coach at Gonzaga University), to Berlin for a visit. Knowles reported she thought Kunze could develop into a good post player.

Early on, it became evident Kunze would need some time. A new country, new school and a new style of basketball was a lot to digest.

“She was going through so many changes last year that her main goal, on and off the court, was to fit in and not rock the boat,” Rhodes said. “She went out of her way to make sure she didn’t offend or hurt anyone.”

This year, Kunze’s marked improvement couldn’t have come at a better time. First, former starting center Amy Saneholtz suffered a season-ending knee injury in December.

Kunze would have been the most likely selection to replace her, but Rhodes decided instead to start 5-foot-8 Kelli Kronberger.

“What I had to talk to Yvonne about after Amy went down was not starting,” Rhodes said. “The direction I wanted to go was one in which we could utilize our speed.

“Yvonne is a space-eater and a much more physical player, and I didn’t want her in a situation where she was just being used from 3-point line to 3-point line.”

But when Kronberger had to sit out for a while with a bad back, Rhodes had no choice but to go with Kunze.

In an 83-59 road win against Oral Roberts on Monday, Kunze had 14 points and 10 rebounds. That was her third straight double-double, and she has registered double figures in points and rebounds in four of WSU’s last five games.

“It took me a while to figure out that I could play the role of a starter,” Kunze said. “But starting - coming off the bench - I just want us to win.”

Kunze is not like a lot of European basketball players who come to the U.S. with a couple years of international experience under their belts. As a freshman, she was truly starting from scratch.

“I never had conditioning or strength training in Germany,” she said. “Basketball is so much faster and more physical over here than in Europe.”

And Kunze has finally figured out how to keep up with it all.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo