The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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64 ■ THE WOLFPACKER "LeBron James is the best player on the planet," Spencer declared. "I've got posters of him from high school to the Miami Heat, and his jersey. The only reason I didn't wear No. 23 in high school was because the coach's daughter had already taken it." The Georgia native shares many com- mon traits with her idol: a background in basketball that began at a very early age, a family that willingly nurtured a natural talent for the game, and a drive to succeed that motivates her to, in the words of her Pack coaches, "do whatever we ask her to do to help us win." "Miah has always competed at a very high level," said Wolfpack assistant coach Gene Hill, who works with NC State's pe- rimeter players. "I saw her play a lot in AAU and high school [while Hill was an assistant at Georgia Tech], and one of the things I've admired most about her is her willingness to do whatever it takes to win. It helps to have that type of person when you're trying to get a program started be- cause she's accustomed to winning, and maybe she can help spread that will to win since she's been around it most of her life." While the Pack's senior-dominated lineup has furnished the fire to win after three years of not meeting expectations, Spencer had provided a much-needed spark in several critical situations this season that helped pave the way for NC State's surpris- ing 23-5 mark through Feb. 23. She was averaging 21.5 minutes a con- test, the highest of all the Pack's non-start- ers, and had played at least eight minutes in every game. Spencer posted averages of 7.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game through Feb. 23, while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from three-point range. Already this season, Spencer has fig- ured in three critical wins. She hit the go- ahead basket in NC State's ACC-opening 67-61 win against Syracuse Jan. 5, and then notched a career-best (so far) five assists and five steals in the Pack's 72-63 win over then-No. 8 Maryland Jan. 30. Then, starting in place of injured senior guard Myisha Goodwin-Coleman Feb. 23, Spencer played a career-high 39 minutes, scored a career-best 17 points and buried the three-point shot that completed a nine- point comeback against Virginia, tying the game at 61 with 1:28 left and setting up senior forward Kody Burke's dramatic game-winning shot with 11 seconds to play in a 68-66 victory that kept the Pack tied for third in the conference with two games to play. "She has shown some flashes of great- ness," Pack head coach Wes Moore said. "Like most freshmen, she's had her good days and bad, but there've been many games where she's given us a needed lift. She brings a lot to the table." Growing up in the small town of Toc- coa, Ga., near the Georgia-South Carolina border, the youngest of two children raised by mom Sheila Spencer remembers first picking up a basketball by the time she was 4 years old. "We lived across the street from my grandparents, who had 10 children, and they all had kids, so I was always outside playing with a lot of boys," she recalled. "My aunt Joy played ball in high school, and she saw I could play, so my grandpar- ents built a full-size court for me to play on." By the time she was a freshman at Frank- lin County High School, Spencer was al- ready an accomplished standout in AAU The Next Chosen One? Freshman Miah Spencer Shares Fire To Succeed With Her Miami Heat Idol Through Feb. 23, Spencer was averaging 7.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game for the Wolfpack. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN BY BRIAN RAPP T ypically, college athletes usually put the names of im- mediate family or close friends on the guest list for games they are playing in. NC State freshman guard Miah Spencer, however, had an unusual addition to the list for the Wolfpack's game in Miami last month — a certain NBA player who, by her own admis- sion, she's followed ever since she was 8 years old. 64-65.Women's Basketball.indd 64 2/25/14 2:28 PM