The Utah Starzz will probably have a feisty 5-foot-6 player who's been an assistant coach in college and who is an aspiring actress at point guard this season. ANOTHER feisty 5-6 assistant coach who's an aspiring actress, that is.
The Starzz pulled the trigger on their first-ever trade Tuesday, getting Chantel Tremitiere from the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for LeJuana "Lady" Hardmon in a swap of guards that fills a need for both clubs. Tremitiere will join sometimes-actress-and-Virginia-assistant coach Tammi Reiss, also a feisty 5-6, in the Starzz backcourt mix."Getting it (the trade) done before training camp was important," says Starzz VP of basketball operations Scott Layden, who added, "We have talked to Sacramento all year about doing different sorts of things, and this one just happened to come about."
WNBA training camps begin Tuesday.
The Starzz needed a pure point guard, having played all four guards (Hardmon, Reiss, Dena Head and Kim Williams) at both one and two positions. Tremitiere started all 28 games for the Monarchs at point guard.
Last week's WNBA draft, which found Utah drafting No. 1 overall and taking 7-foot-2 Malgorzata Dydek of Poland on the first round and finding Stanford's 6-2 Olympia Scott unexpectedly still available to start the second round, was the trade catalyst.
"It didn't give us an opportunity to get a point guard (in the draft)," said Layden. (Utah did draft a point guard from Boise State on the fourth round.) "Fortunately, we were able to do it through a trade."
Layden wouldn't speculate on whom the starter might be. "I leave that always to the coaches," he says. "She's (Tremitiere) got point-guard skills. Clearly, she's got a lot of experience at that position and had a good year last year. It's a good fit for both teams."
"It's hard when you don't have a point guard. In Chantel, I think they get a point guard," Monarch coach Heidi VanDerveer told the Sacramento Bee. With the Monarchs drafting Old Dominion's Ticha Penicheiro, considered the draft's best point guard, at No. 2 , their needs changed to a big, rebounding two-guard to back up high-scoring Ruthie Bolton-Holifield.
Tremitiere, 29, of York, Pa., was a rookie pro last season, selected by the Monarchs on the third round of the '97 draft. She averaged 7.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists. One of 12 adopted children in a 15-kid family, she has been an assistant coach at Auburn ('91-92), Texas ('92-93) and Massachusetts ('93-96).