PREP BASKETBALL ‘92-’93 / EMPIRE LEAGUE : Cypress’ Eggleston Catches Up Quickly

As a freshman two years ago, Jessica Eggleston was a bull in a china shop.

“That’s what our coaches called me, and they were right,” Eggleston said. “I was aggressive but not what you’d call real graceful, and I fouled out almost every game.”

But, as basketball analyst Al McGuire is fond of saying, the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.

Especially in Eggleston’s case. Last year, she was named co-most valuable player of the Empire League and helped lead Cypress to a second consecutive league title.

That’s quite a jump, going from semi-klutzy, foul-prone rookie to an impressive, MVP-caliber player with an 18-point, 14-rebound average, in one season.

The secret? No secret. Just good old-fashioned effort.

“We knew Jessica was a good athlete when she came in as a freshman, but she hadn’t played a lot of basketball,” Cypress Coach Denise Selbe said. “She’s got a tremendous work ethic and worked on her skills constantly. It was only a matter of time before her basketball ability caught up with her athletic ability.”

It didn’t happen overnight. Mostly, it happened on the College Park playground court in Cypress across the street from Eggleston’s home. Or at Cypress’ optional Saturday practices, where Eggleston would stay for three hours, working on the fundamentals.

“I only started playing basketball in seventh grade, so I knew when I got to Cypress I’d have a lot of catching up to do,” Eggleston said. “I still play a lot in the park because I know I’ve still got a lot to learn.”

Despite having only two years of organized basketball experience when she arrived at Cypress, Eggleston brought one skill to the Centurion program that can’t be taught: aggressiveness. Eggleston attributes her willingness to battle under the boards and fight through screens to the time she spent playing sports against the boys from her neighborhood.

“I’ve always been kind of a tomboy,” Eggleston said. “I played Little League with the guys and I used to play baseball and basketball and football with my older brother and his friends, and I think that made me learn to be tough.”

How tough? “Even on the outdoor courts, I live to dive for loose balls.”

It was at last year’s Savanna tournament when Eggleston began to realize that her hard work had made her a much better player. She was named to the all-tournament team, and followed that performance with another all-tournament honor.

By the time Empire League play began, with opponents geared to stop teammate Lupe Nava--the co-MVP of the league now playing at New Mexico--Eggleston was a confident, consistent player.

“We told Jessica she’d get a lot of opportunities to score and rebound because teams would be trying to stop Lupe, and she was ready to take advantage of the situation,” Selbe said.

Eggleston won’t sneak up on anybody during her junior year, especially college scouts. The recruiting process has begun, with Pepperdine, UCLA, Colorado St., Arizona and Arkansas among the schools interested in Eggleston and her 3.6 grade-point average.

To combat the likely double teams and extra attention she’ll face, Eggleston has worked to improve her shooting range and her ballhandling. Over the summer, while playing with an Orange County AAU team against top competition, she worked on shooting with her left hand, a move she now uses effectively.

Eggleston, who has highs of 32 points and 20 rebounds this season, knows she won’t have to do everything herself this season with all-league teammates Susan Flaming and Julie Adams also back.

“I think I know how Lupe felt last year, knowing she had a good team around her,” Eggleston said. “I have confidence in my teammates and they have confidence in me, so there’s no pressure on me.”