Hamlet NalbandyanThe inaugural Michelle Greco Girls’ Basketball...

Hamlet Nalbandyan

The inaugural Michelle Greco Girls’ Basketball Camp, which kicked off

Monday at Crescenta Valley High, actually has somewhat of a history

behind it.

The brainchild of Joe Maniccia -- an instructor at the CV Youth

Falcon program -- the Crescenta Valley Falcon Youth Basketball Camp

began five years ago, with Greco, then a freshman on the UCLA women’s

basketball team, quickly taking over the unofficial headmaster

duties.

Unofficial, because NCAA rules prohibit athletes from having their

names attached to such events.

But since Greco’s brilliant career at UCLA -- which included two

Pacific-10 Conference first-team honors, two conference scoring

titles, finishing second all-time in the conference in steals (288)

and sixth on the school’s career scoring list (1,707) -- came to an

end last season, the official Michelle Greco Girls’ Basketball Camp

was born.

And for the nearly 50 girls, ages 7 to 13, attending the camp,

there isn’t anyone better at running the show than the 1998 CV

graduate, who was named Cal-Hi State Player of the Year four times

and is regarded as the greatest female basketball player from this

area.

“She’s a really nice person,” said 12-year-old Jennie Harding, who

is in her third year of participation in the camp, which runs until

Friday.

Added Robin Randolph, a first-time camper: “I first saw Michelle

in 1998, and we’ve had season tickets ever since.”

Many of the camp’s participants share similar stories. According

to Greco, nearly a fourth of the campers are UCLA season ticket

holders, and have been following Greco’s college career from the

beginning.

Which is exactly why she returns the favor every year with her

camp.

“I love this area,” Greco said. “It’s a great feeling to be able

to come back to the community and give something back. Plus, I never

had an all-girls’ camp when I was growing up, so this is something

the girls can get a lot out of.”

In addition to Greco, three other former Division I women’s

basketball players serve as camp counselors. Former Bruin players

Natalie Nakase, Marie Philman and Melanie Pearson are Greco’s

sidekicks and even UCLA women’s basketball Coach Kathy Olivier will

be a guest speaker in the coming days.

“This is a very cool thing,” said Nakase, who was roommates with

Greco at UCLA. “This is something that I might think about starting

in my community [in Huntington Beach].”

But the summer hasn’t been just all fun for Greco. She has been

training extensively in preparation for a possible trip overseas to

play basketball.

Greco says that she’ll leave in October or September for either

Greece, Israel or Italy, where she’s hoping she’ll attract the

attention of WNBA teams in hopes of playing in the United States

again.

Greco, to many people’s surprise, went undrafted in the April 25th

WNBA Draft. She signed a free-agent contract with the Cleveland

Rockers -- one of 14 teams in the WNBA, after the league cut two

teams from the previous season -- on May 3, but did not make the

team.

She also considered signing with the Sacramento Monarchs.

“It was devastating,” said Greco of not being selected in the

draft, which used a three-round format. “I was told by so many people

that I was going either late in the first round or early in the

second.

“So, after the second round was over, I was like, ‘I can’t believe

I’m going to be drafted in the third round.’ But to be not drafted at

all left a bad taste in my mouth.”

Many believed the reason Greco went undrafted was because of her

history of mild concussions. She used a medical redshirt in 2002

after doctor’s recommendations.

“I can understand how a team wouldn’t want to take a risk on a

player who has the tag of being injury prone, but it’s very

frustrating when I know there’s nothing wrong with me.”