She was the 2004 Parade Magazine national high school player of the year. But redshirt junior Sa’de Wiley-Gatewood is happy to come off the bench for No. 1 Maryland (15-0), which opens its Atlantic Coast Conference slate tonight at home against North Carolina State (11-3).
“They still have a starting five from last year who won the national championship. I respect that. I’m also getting minutes as a starter,” said Wiley-Gatewood, who’s averaged 13.3 points and 21.7 minutes in her first three games since becoming eligible for the Terrapins. “I’m definitely not worried about starting, just being happy on the team and having the team like me, and just being comfortable.”
The Pomona, Calif., native made an inauspicious departure last December from Tennessee, a program she verbally committed to as a freshman in high school.
Despite starting eight of the first nine games in her second season with the Volunteers, “Sa’de didn’t feel like she could play her game here,” said head coach Pat Summitt, fueling speculation the 5-foot-9 point guard wanted to be a superstar.
But Wiley-Gatewood said she’s satisfied with her role at Maryland, and Terps head coach Brenda Frese called her transfer to College Park a gift.
“When you talk about all the hours you spend recruiting players,” said Frese. “Then, to have a player of Sa’de’s caliber — we pretty much received a phone call and had her in for a visit, and she comes — you gotta pinch yourself because that doesn’t come around very often.”
