Most women's basketball recruits don't need to send out their resumes to attract the attention of college coaches.
Of course, most potential recruits have played organized basketball before they come to college. But Juanita (pronounced Yoo-won-ee-ta) Hepburn probably won't be a typical Duke women's hoops player.
Hepburn, a 6-5 athlete from Pretoria, South Africa, signed a letter of intent to play basketball for the Blue Devils last week. She is a star netball player, but has only recently begun to play basketball.
Hepburn, who plans to become a doctor, initially became interested in going to an American college because she realized that the United States has better medical facilities than her native South Africa. She visited the United States embassy and researched colleges with strong premedical programs which also offer basketball scholarships.
Hepburn submitted her resume to several of these schools, but Duke was at the top of her list. And Gail Goestenkors, the Blue Devils' head coach, quickly became interested.
"She has some skills which we can't teach," Goestenkors said. "You can't teach 6-5, and you can't teach athleticism."
Although Hepburn's basketball experience is very limited--she only learned to play the sport about a year ago, and much of her game experience has come in three-on-three contests--her raw talent is obvious. Hepburn is a good runner, and she can dunk a netball.
So, what exactly is netball?
The goal of the sport is the same as that of basketball--to put the ball into a 10-foot hoop. But the seven members of a netball team are not allowed to dribble to advance the ball up the court. Instead, netball players must pass the ball to their teammates, each of whom can navigate only about one-third of the court. And there are no timeouts and no substitutions in netball.
"You put seven people out on the court and just go with it," Hepburn said from her home in Pretoria. "Then you come back out for the second half, and keep playing."
Post play is also drastically different in netball than it is in basketball. For one, there is no backboard, so players can't bank their shots. Also, defenders have to stand about three feet from their opponents, which means that it is tough to block shots.
Hepburn's netball position is shooter. This means that she stands within four meters of the basket and aims for the hoop. Hepburn, who is South Africa's tallest women's netballer, was successful on 97 percent of her shots last season when she played for the Menlopark High School team.
"We could tell from the tapes we've seen that she's a tremendous shooter," Goestenkors said. "She very rarely misses from the free throw line."
Hepburn also can convert from 15 feet closer to the hoop. She will join the elite group of women's basketball players who can dunk--last season, North Carolina's Charlotte Smith became the first player in over 10 years to do so in a game.
"It's not like the proper NBA Michael Jordan type of dunk," said Hepburn of her jamming style.
Actually, much of Hepburn's familiarity with basketball comes from watching Jordan and his NBA cohorts on "Inside Stuff," the only American sports program which has pervaded the South African airwaves. Hepburn's 16-year-old brother also collects American basketball cards, including those of Duke alumnus Grant Hill.
"Basketball is still a developing sport here," Hepburn said. "Only now are they starting to get better coaches. When I started playing, there really wasn't any coaching."
Coming to Duke will be a huge adjustment for Hepburn. She has only been out of South Africa once, when she visited Duke in February. And Hepburn will need to become acclimated to a new culture and a different schedule--South Africa's academic calendar goes from January to December. But she is not concerned about the transition.
"It will be to my advantage because I can do more things," Hepburn said. "I am excited by the challenge of facing the unknown. I want to see if I can adapt. I feel like [coming to the United States] is necessary for me to be the best person that I can become."
Since her graduation from high school in December, Hepburn has concentrated on learning the intricacies of the game of basketball, and she now plays for a South African club team. She made one of her biggest discoveries during her trip to America--the size of a basketball. Hepburn knew that a netball was smaller than a basketball. But until she visited Duke, she didn't realize that a women's basketball is smaller and lighter than the men's version, which is used in South Africa.
Goestenkors believes that her speed and mobility will help her blend in well with Duke's team. Hepburn also has experience at big-time netball. She played in the national club championships in Cape Town two years ago. But she probably will not make an immediate impact on the Blue Devils.
"She's only played about a year of basketball, and she's never really played organized basketball," Goestenkors said. "It depends on how quickly she can adjust to the game, but she'll probably help us more towards the end of the season.
"One day she's going to be a great college basketball player. I'm just not sure when that's going to be. We're going to be patient with her. It helps that we have [junior] Ali Day and [sophomore] Tye Hall to help her along."
But Hepburn is anxious to make her presence felt as soon as possible.
"I'm pretty determined to practice hard and to play," Hepburn said. "Once I get the same training and coaching as the other players, I think I can start to contribute."
Hepburn plans to go to medical school in the United States after she graduates from Duke. In fact, she wouldn't mind staying in Durham for more than four years.
"The soonest that I would get my [medical] degree would be eight or 10 years," Hepburn said. "Once I get used to the technology in America, it would be difficult to go back to South Africa. We visited the hospital at Duke, and just from seeing what [facilities] they have I can tell [the United States] is the place for me."
Perhaps someday Hepburn will be a dunkin' doctor.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.