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76 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f able to do, I think it'll take my game to another level." That statement says volumes of how far Bays has come — and how much is expected in her final season for the Boilermakers. A NEW IDENTITY Coming out of high school, there was an excitement about Whitney Bays. She was ranked as the No. 13 recruit in the country and headed to a power program at Maryland. But she had to redshirt that first season after a knee injury de- railed her senior high school season. And the hype faded a bit. She played the next season, but, then, blew out the knee again. So Bays' arrival to Purdue came with little fanfare. Plus, she had to sit out again because of NCAA trans- fer rules. By the time she was ready to make her debut in West Lafayette last season, there was no fervor for the former West Virginia Player-of-the-Year. She was more mysterious than memorable. Even Bays had significant doubts she'd ever resem- ble the player she was in high school, when she aver- aged 24 points and 11 rebounds as a junior before the first knee injury. But Coach Sharon Versyp broke out the pep talks on Bays' first visit — and never stopped them. Versyp empowered Bays at every turn, every obstacle, every moment of uncertainty, continually told her she would be a dominant player again. Bays began to believe it. "Coming here gave me hope to be that player," Bays said. It clearly was a process, though. In the first 16 games last season, Bays worked her way into game shape, adjusted to her role amidst a team that was perimeter-oriented, learned what it took mentally to be prepared for a season's worth of scout- ing reports and got a feel for the game again. Bays never could view herself as truly a healthy player — with her past, there always is a lingering fear — but when she found a groove on the floor, when she got flush with competition, she could overcome it. And, finally, break through. Perhaps the turning point came against rival Indi- ana in mid-January when Bays registered her first ca- reer double-double, getting 16 points and 14 rebounds in a blowout victory. From then on, the only thing that slowed Bays was Bays — with foul trouble. Still, in the final 15 games, she averaged 13.9 points and 9.9 rebounds. She had eight consecutive dou- ble-digit rebounding games to end the season and had double-doubles six times during that stretch. In a two-month span, Bays went from unknown to the Big Ten's Sixth Player-of-the-Year. And she surprised herself a bit in the process. "We didn't know what to expect, so while we were going through the season, I was just playing," she said. And, by doing so, a new Bays emerged, one more significant than the high-school-phenom version. "I really didn't have my name out there last year," she said. "Now, this year, I'm ready to step up to the challenge." Tom Campbell Bays' passion and physicality is a "blessing and a curse," assistant coach Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton said. It's necessary to being a post presence but also needs to be controlled.