Miriam Walker-Samuels cannot wait for 2010 to arrive and it has nothing to do with the next Winter Olympics.

That year, Claflin University will have completed its provisional period for becoming a full-fledged member of the NCAA Division II Southeastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. This means the Pantherettes’ head coach has four years of not competing for a conference championship and a national championship tournament bid.

It’s a waiting period Walker-Samuels admits is frustrating, but fully understands it’s a part of the process of increasing the overall athletic program’s profile.

“I’m not too pleased with the situation that we’ve got to wait so long,” she said. “But yet still, I have a job to do and I’ll just be upfront with my young ladies. Let them know we’re making a transition from NAIA to NCAA (Division) II and there’s a process that you must go through. It’s something that we’re not at fault. It’s rules and regulations and that’s life. You have to follow all rules and regulations.”

Saturday morning at the Jonas T. Kennedy Center, six prospective future Pantherettes participated in an open tryout where they scrimmaged with present Claflin women’s basketball players in the hopes of earning one of four available scholarships. It’s Walker-Samuels’ belief that these high school seniors will be motivated by the opportunity to receive a college education rather than get dissuaded by the lack of postseason exposure.

“You’re looking for a scholarship plus a degree afterwards,” Walker-Samuels said. “Everything else is secondary. Nobody is promising you to go to the next level. My promise is to give you a scholarship and help you get out in four years.”

Getting players from “Generation Now” to see the big picture is difficult, admits Walker-Samuels.

“My personal opinion, I think it shouldn’t really matter because it’s still the game of basketball,” she said. “Even though you’re not playing for anything at the end of the season. But this generation, I guess it makes a difference because people have this thing. They want to get to the next level and they don’t care whether they’re playing on the small division or higher division.

“They just want to get to the next level and they feel like (by) not playing in the postseason, they won’t get there. But I feel like if you’ve got stats, your stats stack up, you’ll get your recognition.”

Walker-Samuels is living proof, as a three-time NAIA All-American for the Pantherettes. Had the WNBA been in existence in the early 1990s, a team might have taken a chance on Walker-Samuels, who ended up playing for the Birmingham Power of the fledgling National Basketball Women’s League,

At the same time, Walker-Samuels understands it’s an uphill battle to obtain those “blue chip” players who flock to Division I schools or somewhere they can gain instant exposure. It’s no wonder why she plans to sign several junior college players who just want a chance to play and finish their education.

“Right now, I have to be upfront with my players,” Walker-Samuels said. “I’m looking for JUCO (junior college) players who are looking for two more years and at that point, they’re ready to quit playing basketball. So you’re look for those players at that point and time that need two more years, need a degree and are ready not to just look for basketball after my two years.”

In addition to signing players, scheduling has also been a problem for the Pantherettes. Benedict and Fort Valley State were the only SIAC teams to face Claflin this past season and a much-desired home game against South Carolina State won’t happen as long as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference maintains its edict of facing only Division I-A teams only.

“With us coming in, it looks like a lot of schools don’t want to play us,” Walker-Samuels said. “Even though we’re in a probationary period, they don’t want to play us. For what reason, I don’t know. If it was me looking in, I would want to play you because I would expect that you would want to be ready for this level. But, a lot of schools don’t want to play us and we’re still having problems scheduling games.”

When the time arrives when the Pantherettes are coming for the SIAC title and in the NCAA Division II tournament, Walker-Samuels plans to have a team ready to “walk in” and compete from Day One.

“You’ve got to go out there and recruit competitive kids — kids who can compete on the Division II level,” she said. “NAIA was sort of laid back. It wasn’t like a must ... It looks like on Division II SIAC, everybody is looking to win the SIAC championship.”

Claflin to hold two basketball camps

Young basketball players between the ages of 5 and 14 looking to learn the fundamentals can attend two three-day basketball camps at Claflin University this summer.

With Walker-Samuels providing instruction along with her staff, the camps are designed to provide quality teaching in all phases of the game. Every camper will receive individual attention with the emphasis on improving their individual game, such as shooting, passing, ball handling, rebounding, individual offense and individual defense.

The camp dates are June 12-14 and July 10-12. The beginner’s camp for ages 5-9 will take place each day from 8 a.m. to noon and the youth camp for ages 10-14 is set from 1-5 p.m. The registration fee is $100 per player and a non-refundable $50 deposit is due by the registration deadline of May 13.

For more information, contact Walker-Samuels at (803) 535-5449.

SCSU’s Brown on All-T&D Region team

In the Thursday edition of The Times and Democrat, a listing of the All-T&D Region women’s basketball team mistakenly omitted South Carolina State center Nicolle Brown from the second team.

A 6-1 junior college transfer from Toledo, Ohio, Brown averaged 7.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and was the Lady Bulldogs’ leading shot-blocker with 14 on the season.

The T&D apologizes for the error.

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