As a first-grader at Westchester Lutheran Elementary School,
Noelle Quinn played on the Dream Team.
She does not have an Olympic gold medal and you won’t find
her name on the 1992 roster but it might as well have been.
Every day during recess, six-year-old Quinn and four friends
would take on anyone and everyone. Literally.
Quinn would team up with a select group of boys, including
current Cal guard Omar Wilkes and Stanford forward Fred Washington,
and dominate everyone on the basketball court ““ all at
once.
Every day it would be the Dream Team against everyone who wanted
to play. And every day the Dream Team would win.
“It would be the five of us against everyone else on the
playground,” Quinn said. “We always won. That’s
why we were called the Dream Team. … Every hour of every lunch
break and every recess it was just us against everybody on the
playground.”
Quinn began honing her basketball skills at the age of three
when she first started dribbling, but her talent wasn’t yet
apparent to herself.
“I knew I was special, but I wasn’t really
understanding,” she said. “I was just playing to have
fun.”
It would not be a stretch to say Quinn’s talent still
hasn’t caught up with her modest mind-set.
You would be hard-pressed to get her to admit that she is a
top-five pick in the WNBA and one of the best players ever to come
through UCLA.
Either way, senior guard Quinn has become the leader of this
year’s Bruin squad and will leave an indelible mark on the
record books whether she likes it or not.
Her productivity at UCLA has been more or less astounding, but
you would never know by talking to her. She is in the top 10 of
Bruin lore in every major category including points, assists and
rebounds and will most likely become the fifth UCLA player to score
at least 1,600 points and grab 700 boards in her career.
Though her career stats are as impressive as any, her story goes
beyond the numbers.
At Bishop Montgomery High School, Quinn led a talented team to
four state championships on her way to becoming one of the most
highly touted recruits of her class. She would eventually choose
UCLA in order to stay close to family in Los Angeles, among other
factors.
“I wanted to stay close to home, my Mom and my
family,” Quinn said. “They always come to the games.
… When I first came here, Nikki and Lisa were here, so I knew
that I just wanted to get UCLA back on the map as far as
basketball, and the opportunity to play with those two was
great.”
Basketball wasn’t the only sport Quinn could have
dominated.
She also played four years of volleyball at Bishop Montgomery
and led her team to a state championship. UCLA women’s
basketball coach Kathy Olivier typically works together with other
Bruin coaches to generate multi-sport stars, but despite volleyball
coach Andy Banachowski’s requests, Olivier would not give her
up.
“At UCLA, we’ve done a very good job of having
two-sport athletes, and Andy and I take a lot of pride in helping
each other in that respect,” Olivier said. “But when it
came to Noelle, I put my hand up and said, “˜Don’t even
think about it.’ He just smiled. He knew and I knew. It was
classic.”
From the beginning, Quinn’s passion has always been
basketball and choosing basketball over volleyball was not a
difficult choice.
“Basketball is my love and it’s my passion, and I
knew it’s my ticket to where I wanted to go in the
future,” Quinn said. “The volleyball coaches here
always tease me. … They wanted me to play in college, but I just
wanted to focus on basketball.”
The year-round focus does not go unnoticed by her teammates, who
realize how much of an impact she has had on this team.
“Once she hits the floor, it’s all about
game-time,” senior forward Amanda Livingston said.
“It’s all about winning and doing whatever it takes to
get that “˜W,’ whether its having 12 assists or 30
points. If her shot’s not dropping, we can’t get down
on her because we expect her to do 10 other things. She’s a
really big part of this team and a really big part of this
program.”
Although Quinn carries a heavy burden for the team and has
countless responsibilities, Olivier knows Quinn is one of a kind
and is able to shoulder whatever is thrown her way.
“When people ask me (how much Quinn means to this team), I
almost want to chuckle because I think, “˜Are you kidding
me?'” Olivier said. “”˜What doesn’t
she bring to the table?’ That would be an easier statement.
… She does it all for the team.”
Quinn’s contributions to the team show an experienced
leader who craves the ball with the game on the line. However, her
impact on recruiting is also not to be overlooked.
Coming out of high school, Livingston signed with UCLA after she
found out that she would be playing alongside Quinn.
“I don’t know if the recruiting classes would have
been the same or who wouldn’t have signed if she hadn’t
have come here,” Livingston said.
For Quinn, whose career will almost certainly not end in
Westwood, the prospect of the WNBA is still on the horizon. Still,
looking ahead to the next level is simply not a thought for
her.
“I just want to win,” Quinn said. “I’m a
big dreamer and a big thinker, trying to look at the big picture,
but the important thing with this team is to take it a game at a
time.”
Quinn’s signing at UCLA four years ago might have a much
deeper impact than anyone could have anticipated.
Among Quinn’s three nieces whom she sees every Sunday, the
oldest one, who is 11, has more in common with Noelle that just
physical appearance.
“My oldest niece, she’s really good,” Quinn
said. “She’s going to be a point guard. She’s
small but she understands the game so much. I watch her and she
does the same stuff I do, like her mannerisms and everything.
I’m like, “˜That’s me out there.’ I always
say she’s going to be our moneymaker of the family.
That’s a little superstar right there.”
For Olivier, it’s never too early to start scouting.
“Heck yes (I’ve seen her niece play), I mean,
she’s got Noelle Quinn blood in her, heck yes. She’s
been to our camp and we love the whole family. They’re so
supportive and obviously I can’t talk about future recruits,
but we’re definitely going to keep an eye on her.”
Though Quinn will be leaving UCLA at the end of the year, she
doesn’t plan on ever leaving the game.
“I don’t who or where or what I’d be without
basketball,” Quinn said. “I had an internship this
summer and I told myself I want to play basketball forever. I
don’t want to sit at a desk from 9 to 5. I love basketball
and if I could play forever, I would.”
And if that meant returning to her elementary school playground
and taking on everyone at once, she would do it in a heartbeat.