The Emporia Gazette

May 28, 2012

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Emporia State’s all-time leading scorer will try out for WNBA squad

Michelle Stueve said on Wednesday that if she received a shot at the WNBA, she owed it to herself to try out.

The Emporia State All-American got that chance Thursday, as she was invited to the Washington Mystics’ training camp.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Stueve said on Thursday, “so I think it’ll be exciting.”

Mystics general manager Linda Hargrove first contacted ESU coach Brandon Schneider, and the coach put Hargrove in touch with Stueve.

After talking with Hargrove, Stueve officially accepted the invitation.

There will be 18 people trying out at the team’s camp; that number does not include those players that have already made the team.

Depending on salary-cap considerations, the Mystics will have between 11 and 13 players on their Game One roster.

Stueve said she understood that the odds were stacked against her and any other undrafted players going in.

“(Hargrove) said a lot of times it’s a long shot,” Stueve said. “It’s not something that happens every day, but players that come to the training camp have made it before, so it’s something that’s a good experience. She just basically said to give it your best shot.”

Stueve, who is ESU’s all-time leading scorer, will fly out on April 18 and start the tryouts the next day. She will work out and train over the next eight days in preparation for the camp.

“Hopefully I haven’t lost that much over the last two or three weeks,” Stueve said. “I’m just going to try to sharpen up a little bit before I head there.”

The tryouts will take place in Washington D.C.’s Verizon Center, which is home to both the Mystics and the NBA’s Washington Wizards.