Southern Illinois Salukis – Official Athletics Website

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Indiana Fever guard Sydney Colson spoke to the Southern Illinois University women’s basketball team on Thursday before its game against Belmont in Nashville.

Colson is a two-time WNBA champion who also won an NCAA Championship at Texas A&M in 2011 with head coach Kelly Bond-White.

Hear from Coach Bond-White:
“It was a morning of challenge as WNBA Champion Sydney Colson met with the Salukis in a hotel meeting space. The newly acquired Indiana Fever guard and 2011 NCAA Champion is in town playing in the inaugural season for Athletes Unlimited, that features many WNBA players that didn’t go abroad to play in the offseason.

From the beginning, Colson challenged our young ladies to support one another and to commit to being better. She spoke on several topics, but four really got our players’ attention. Roles, legacy, impact, and playing for one another. She talked about sitting behind a senior in her first year, but she was still elected captain by her peers.  She took that year to learn and understand everybody has a role the TEAM needs you to play right now.  Just as your body has roles. If you’re the mouth then do things the mouth does, don’t waste time wishing you were the ears. Keep developing your game but do what your team needs. This is how she has been able to play in the league for over a decade. Sydney mentioned a sadness for today’s athletes, because many don’t get to create a legacy, due to the transactional nature of today’s game. However, she challenged our young ladies to not take for granted the opportunity you have to let a community and campus have a positive impact on you. Know everybody and treat everyone with respect from your managers and especially those folks who sacrifice for you every day.

Those are ways you can be impactful before we even talk about your game. Sydney admitted as a collegiate athlete and now as a pro she could get pretty colorful holding teammates accountable. If she’s out there giving everything, she wants the next person to give as much. We battled together, nobody was thinking of accolades, they came because we went hard and sacrificed for our teammates.  She also felt that’s where the fun lies in the game. Once you commit to getting through the hard part or the “Valley” the other side is the fun part, but it’s always the work you have to put into it. 

She’s the face of the league for a reason. Her vulnerability with our young people was special. She can empathize with our struggles on and off the court this season. Syd is someone that has utilized that little orange ball to kick open doors and create seats at tables from Washington DC to Hollywood. As one of the most decorated athletes in the world, she could be doing a lot of other things, but she still embraces her role and chooses to live her life with such an incredible JOY that radiates in whatever room she is in.”

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