03/18/04
(Ed note (8/15/05):  Shana accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Kentucky to play basketball and attend there but was able to qualify academically.  She will be attending and playing basketball at Gulf Coast Community College for her first year of college instead.)

Monique Andrus said she remembers the first time her daughter picked up a basketball.

"She was 8 years old," said Andrus. "I remember because she picked it up and she's never put it down. She would be outside dribbling that ball all day and probably would have dribbled it all night, if I would have let her."

Things haven't changed much.

Shana Andrus still dribbles that ball, and she dribbles it well.

The junior from Barberton does a lot of things with a basketball very well. She passes it well, she shoots it well and she rebounds it well, drawing comparisons to a teen phenom who's also from Summit County. At 5-11, she already has designs on dunking. She will enter next season as one of the country's top seniors.

And, if things unfold the way her mom and people around her hope, she will use a basketball to punch herself a ticket for a free ride to a major college or university.

Whether that happens remains to be seen. Like many other athletes, Andrus has academic issues. She, and those around her, say she is working on her grades diligently.

In the meantime, Andrus will be under the microscope this weekend when she leads Barberton to Columbus for the Division I girls state basketball semifinals at Ohio State University's Value City Arena. The Lady Magics will play the biggest game in the 29-year history of the program when they play nationally ranked Dayton Chaminade-Julienne in a semifinal game on Friday at 6 p.m.

IN DEMAND

Many colleges already have touched base with Andrus via face-to-face meetings, faxes, e-mails and letters. Andrus said she gets up to 15 letters a day. While college recruiters are not permitted to attend this weekend's tournament, you can bet there will be many videotapes circulated, and the word of her exploits will spread.

One college coach, who is not allowed to comment on the record because of NCAA recruiting rules, has seen Andrus play and draws a lofty comparison.

"She was the closest thing I had seen to a female LeBron James at the same age," said the coach. "What she does with all that talent is up to her and the people around her."

Those who have not seen Andrus play will get an opportunity to see an athletic, skilled and physical player. They will see a player who is capable of knocking down a 3-pointer one trip down the floor, slashing to the basket on another and setting up a teammate for an easy bucket with a no-look pass on yet another. They will see a player who can leap high enough to grab the rim with one hand.

"What I like about her is that she is both a phenomenal passer and a great finisher," said Hudson coach Tony Whitmer, who faced Andrus and her teammates twice this season. "I don't get the feeling that she needs to score 20 to 25 points every game. She is happy to get 15 points and keep the rest of her teammates in the game."

People said the same about LeBron, remember?

Whitmer, like many coaches in the area, feels Andrus is capable of playing at any level in college. In fact, he feels Andrus' upside is greater than Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame's Mel Thomas, who has committed to the University of Connecticut, or most of the others named first-team All-Ohio on Tuesday.

"Don't get me wrong, Mel Thomas is a heck of a player," said Whitmer. "But I think Shana can be a better basketball player. I'd take her in a heartbeat."

Barberton coach Pam Davis was a heavily recruited basketball and track star coming out of Austintown Fitch, and she feels Andrus has a tremendous future.

"She has a chance to be something special," said Davis. "She brings a nice blend of abilities to the game. She can play all five spots on the floor, and she has great vision. I expect her to get stronger as she matures, but right now, there is a lot of potential there."

MAKING THE GRADES

Andrus spent two years at Archbishop Hoban after coming out of Perkins Middle School in Akron. While she said she enjoyed her two years at Hoban, she struggled academically and was ineligible for parts of both seasons. She transferred to Barberton over the summer, and the family soon moved there. Monique Andrus said that some of her relatives, including former Barberton standout Chemika Pittman, had good things to say about the school and the city.

"That's why we moved," said Monique Andrus, a single mother who frequently works 60 hours a week at a nursing home to support her three children. "Our relatives all had good things to say about Barberton. It's practically a brand-new school. Shana liked it at Hoban, but she just couldn't do the work. She was working at a jewelry store and going to school and playing basketball. It was hard."

Andrus said her grades have improved since transferring, thanks mostly to teammate Damoniq'e Askew, whom Andrus describes as her best friend, and center Mary Stockdale, an honors student.

"I set academic goals for myself when I got here," said Andrus. "I wanted to get a 2.5 the first grading period, and I got a 2.8. Then, I wanted to get a 2.8 for the second, and I got a 3.0. I want to get a 3.2 for the spring, but I'm really hoping for a 3.5. I am working very hard every day. Damoniq'e and Mary help me out a lot.

"Coming out of Perkins and going to Hoban was hard," she continued. "I got frustrated and discouraged, and I probably didn't put my school work first. When I came here, coach Pam told me that I had to do my school work."

Andrus and her mother are close. Monique attends every Barberton game, despite her heavy workload. Acquaintances say the mother has kept close tabs on her daughter, making sure she isn't tempted to stray off line. Shana says things have changed.

"I love my mother to death," she said, breaking into a warm laugh. "She has helped me a lot. She pushes me to do better and I appreciate that. We might have had our differences in my younger days, but we are very close. We get along great."

Andrus says she can grab the rim with one hand, not two but feels she will someday be able to dunk. She said she plans on hitting the weight room over the summer.

"She needs to get stronger, no doubt, especially in her legs," said Davis, a speech therapist. "She needs to do a lot of things, and that includes working on her grades. I would like to see her pull a couple of 3.5s."

While two other Barberton teams played their way to the final four, they never played a game of Friday's magnitude. Chaminade-Julienne, which won the Division II state title last season and is making the school's fifth trip to the final four, is ranked first in the country by USA Today.

Andrus is not intimidated.

"I'm sure they're good or they wouldn't be there," she said. "But, if we play the way we're capable, especially on defense, I think we can win."

If Andrus predicts as well as she plays, she and her teammates will earn a spot in Saturday's finals. And Andrus will be able to bounce that ball one more night.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: trogers@plaind.com, 800-683-7348