It’s Good Move for Craig

Rometra Craig could have been at Duke last Saturday for the big-time showdown against Connecticut.

She could still be part of a team that reached the Final Four last season and has a good chance of going back.

And she would hate every minute of it.

Craig, a junior guard who is playing her first season at USC after transferring from Duke, said she is much happier to be back on the West Coast -- she was born in Portola Valley, Calif., near Palo Alto -- and in an environment where she can develop and thrive.

“I still think a lot about leaving Duke, but I made the right decision,” said Craig who, like her teammates, is preparing for the rematch with cross-town rival UCLA today.

“I wanted to come back home and play in front of my family -- they’re such a huge part of my life. I feel I can do anything on the court when I know they’re watching.”

Considering how slim the Trojans’ roster is this season, with only nine scholarship players, to have an athlete of Craig’s caliber drop in was a blessing.

And Craig -- a second-degree black belt in taekwondo and a member of her state high school championship 400-meter relay team -- is a terrific athlete.

Her father, Roger Craig, played 11 NFL seasons with San Francisco, the Raiders and Minnesota. He won three Super Bowl rings with the 49ers.

Her mother, Vernessia, was a gymnast who also played basketball and ran track. Craig is also a cousin of Clipper forward Corey Maggette.

Duke Coach Gail Goestenkors was excited about Craig’s potential when the Blue Devils won the recruiting battle for her, beating out USC, Arizona and UCLA in 2000.

“I saw a supreme athlete, one of those rare combinations of speed, quickness, strength and power,” Goestenkors said. “I envisioned her as a wing player,” running fastbreaks with Alana Beard, Iciss Tillis and Monique Curry.

But almost from the day she arrived at Duke, Craig was consumed by homesickness. She managed to get through her freshman season, playing in 33 games, starting four and averaging 7.2 points.

By the time her sophomore season arrived, the urge to return to California was overwhelming. Goestenkors had developed a powerhouse team that would reach the 2002 Final Four, and playing time was going to be limited.

After seven games, Craig decided to transfer. Both Craig and Goestenkors said the parting was amicable.

“I’m a West Coast girl,” Craig said. “In California ... there’s so much more than just basketball. I knew Duke would be a great team, but I also knew I needed to come home.”

Not that her transition from Blue Devil to Trojan has been easy.

Because she had to wait a full year from her transfer to be eligible, Craig has played in only 14 games for the Trojans, averaging 13.7 points. She has had good outings -- scoring 19 points in the upset of then fifth-ranked Stanford. And she has had some not so good -- she scored nine points, on four-of-13 shooting, in an earlier loss to UCLA.

Like Goestenkors, Coach Chris Gobrecht sees -- and expects -- great things from Craig. The USC coach admits she has ridden Craig in practice harder than some other players.

“You have a gifted player who has to learn how to impact the game,” Gobrecht said. “So far, it’s been a struggle [to learn] how to be important to the team. But she’s understanding that.”

Craig, who said her mind wanders on the court at times, is willing to take whatever Gobrecht can dish out.

“I respect her so much, everything she says I take to heart,” Craig said. “There’s a lot I have to learn.”

No matter how this season turns out -- even if Duke wins a national championship or USC doesn’t make the tournament -- Craig won’t look back.

“Duke is a great team, an awesome program,” she said. “I miss that part, playing in big games and on television. But it just wasn’t the place for me.

“I’m so happy now, I wouldn’t change anything.”