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78 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f And that's good because Purdue is going to need Bays to score any way she can. "We need her. She needs to understand that, and I think she does," assistant coach Lindsay Wis- dom-Hylton said. "For us to be successful, Whitney needs to be the consistent scorer, rebounder and de- fender for this team and be that leader. She's that per- son for our team." Last season, when the Boilermakers would need a bucket, Versyp would draw up a play for Bays or point guard April Wilson would call a play for Bays. Some- times, teammates would even come up to her and say, "We need you to score now." Bays often responded with the needed baskets. Still, she tries to be modest when asked whether she can carry the scoring load this season, saying, "I'm not really thinking of myself as that (kind of) scorer, but they might need to me to score." When pressed — uh, Purdue is going to need Bays to score — she relents a bit, laughs and offers a con- cession. "They're going to need me to score, definitely," she said, smiling. Coaches think Bays will rise to that challenge. Versyp said she thinks by the season's end, Bays will be considered one of the best players to play for the Boilermakers, even though it'll only be essentially a two-year stint. One of the former players who can already make that claim, all-time program leading rebounder and former All-American Wisdom-Hylton, feels the same way. And she's had an up-close view of Bays' develop- ment as coach for Purdue's post players. "I think she could be great," Wisdom-Hylton said. "She's got that talent and ability to be a double-double player. It's just a matter of doing it day-in and day-out and being consistent with it. I think she was definite- ly consistent more toward the end of the season for us, for rebounding purposes, but this year we're ex- pecting her to be almost at 10 every game. I know it doesn't happen. Except for me. "Scoring-wise, she needs to be 10 or above every night. You have your games (when) she's on and hitting, she's 5-for-5. Even if her outside shot is not working, that's another thing we're working on, we want you to shoot it, but if it's not going down, then you need to find other ways to score. Sometimes she may have settled last year, but she's growing and un- derstanding that she's capable of doing other things than just shooting the ball." WITH HEART Funny, though, when Bays is asked to define her game, she doesn't want to talk scoring, doesn't want to talk rebounding, doesn't even seem interested in courage or resilience. "Being passionate is the most important. I just play with my heart," she said. "I didn't know how I was going to be last year, so just coming out and having that fire was important, and I'm a com- petitive person and I've always been." Bays doesn't turn it off, either. She will mix it up in practice. There were epic battles last season between her and el- bows-always-flying nemesis Camille Redmon, and now freshman Horrocks often bears the brunt of Bays' incessant hustle and fight. Hor- rocks is exposed to it daily, most often when a rebound is at stake. Instead of Bays offering pointers to the youngster on how to attack the boards effectively, she gives examples. "It's less verbal tips that she's giving me as beating me up," said Horrocks, who is at least three inches taller than the player she calls her mentor. "When she gets the rebound, I'm like, 1241 Cumberland Ave, Suite B West Lafayette, IN 47906 Phone: 765-497-0197 www.bankerinvestmentgroup.com Bill Banker, President Purdue University Alumni 85' Purdue Baseball Alumni 81'-85' A Fee-Based Investment Advisor located in the Purdue Research Park 25+ Years of Investment Management Experience