Purdue’s Erickson Maintains Her Team-Player Attitude

You couldn’t have a better basketball resume than Nicole Erickson’s.

She came out of Brea Olinda High School with top-point guard credentials: high school All-American, California player of the year, four state championships.

A college coach would be hard pressed to scrounge up a rival. And with Erickson on board, who would go looking?

But Purdue Coach Lin Dunn saw a need and found the player, just down the road in West Lebanon, Ind.

It was there Stephanie White was becoming an Indiana legend. High school All-American. National prep player of the year. The state’s all-time leading girls’ scorer.

Suddenly, the market became flooded with Boilermaker point guards. It’s the type of situation that would make most players a bit edgy.

Yet, Erickson maintained her everything-is-peachy point of view.

“Oh no, it was never a problem at all,” Erickson said. “I guess I didn’t think about it as competition.”

Though she might have been looking through rose-colored glasses last fall, it turned out to be a true vision.

Erickson, a sophomore, and White, a freshman, have evolved into a backcourt for the Boilermakers. They have both started the last eight games and are a big reason for the team’s late-season surge.

When fifth-ranked Iowa, with its pressure defense, hit West Lafayette on Feb. 11, the Hawkeyes were in for a surprise. The Boilermakers were not the easily rattled patsies, as they had been a month earlier. This time Purdue committed only seven turnovers in a 62-42 victory.

To show that that wasn’t a fluke, the Boilermakers handled the Hawkeyes again last week, beating them, 76-68, in the semifinals of the Big 10 tournament.

Purdue, ranked 15th, won seven of its last eight games--losing only to Penn State in the conference tournament final--to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers face Notre Dame in the first round Friday.

It doesn’t take Dunn long to find a reason for the reemergence.

“We were really struggling with turnovers,” Dunn said. “We were trying to use small forwards at the off guard and rotate Nicole and Stephanie at point. Finally, we decided to use them both at the same time. They just feed off each other now.

“You can never have enough point guards, it’s like getting too many rebounds.”

Dunn severely tested that theory.

Erickson seemed a one-in-a-million catch out of Brea Olinda in 1994. She possessed all the specs of a blueprint point guard, from her stern leadership and unflappable court presence.

Those qualities had served her, and the Ladycats, well. Brea Olinda was 135-5 during her four years.

Of all the schools courting her, Erickson chose Purdue. The reasons were many, and predictable, including national championship aspirations. But what really sold her was the school’s basketball-only arena.

“When we told her that only the men’s and women’s basketball team use Mackey Arena, her eyes just lit up,” said Long Beach State Coach Dallas Boychuk, who was a Purdue assistant from 1992-95.

They soon found out why.

The following fall, Dunn was working at her desk when she heard someone dribbling in the gym. Then she remembered the lights were out.

“I go in there and it’s completely dark,” Dunn said, “and there’s Nicole shooting free throws.”

Said Boychuk: “I remember when we were recruiting her, I would be talking with her on the phone and could hear that basketball bouncing the whole time.”

Such a dedicated soul was hard to keep down.

Erickson earned a little playing time at off guard and made 39% of her three-point shots last season. The Boilermakers won a second consecutive Big 10 title and reached the NCAA West Regional final.

With both guards graduating, the future looked bright for Erickson. She was packed off to Japan with the Big 10 all-star team to gain experience.

“I remember lying in bed on this army base and there were these bugs all around,” Erickson said. “They were mosquitoes or fleas or something. Oh God did they bite. I slept in my whole sweat suit, with the hood up and tied down. I was so scared of those bugs. I remember thinking, maybe I can deal with adversity.”

She would be tested.

This season might not qualify as adverse, but it was a delicate situation.

Dunn went after White last year because she had to. It wasn’t only that White was extremely talented, she also lived just 30 minutes away.

“She had been coming to Purdue camps since she was 12,” Dunn said. “You can’t ignore a player that good who is so close.”

At 5 feet 11, White is five inches taller than Erickson. She was also heavy on the big-time numbers. White averaged 36.9 points, 13.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 7.0 steals as a senior at West Lebanon Seeger Memorial High.

Dunn even enlisted Erickson to help. She was White’s on-campus host during visits and stayed in contact throughout the year.

That they would be competing for the same job wasn’t a concern.

“She wasn’t like some stranger,” Erickson said. “She was a friend. I didn’t care what role I played.”

Her initial role was as White’s backup, but she made the most of her time. Erickson had a nine-point, five-assist game in a 80-77 overtime loss to then third-ranked Vanderbilt in January.

But the Boilermakers were treading water.

Dunn had been using forwards Jannon Roland and Melina Griffin at guard with White. Although both shot well, neither was a strong ballhandler. That weakness was exploited by Iowa, which forced 23 turnovers in a 68-57 victory in January.

After losing in overtime to Penn State, Dunn made the switch, moving Erickson into the lineup with White. The Boilermakers beat Indiana on a last-second shot, then upset Iowa.

Erickson has averaged 9.1 points and 4.0 assists since the Indiana game. She had a back-to-back 17-point games Illinois and Ohio State. She also had a career-high seven assists against the Buckeyes.

For the season, Erickson is averaging 6.2 points and 3.3 assists. She is also hitting 45% of her three-point attempts. White is averaging 11.1 points and 4.5 assists.

But to Erickson, the numbers--and resumes--matter little.

“We’re playing together and that’s fine,” Erickson said. “Another way to look at it is she’s one of the best. How can you not improve when you’re playing with one of the best?”