A 5-11 wing player from Harrison High School in Marietta, Ga., Susan Yenser has developed an all-around game that has bought her great success on the court. As a junior, Yenser averaged 20.2 points and six rebounds per game, leading her team into the playoffs. She was named All-County for the second consecutive season, and garnered the Cobb County Tip-Off Club Player of the Year for 2004. She's poised for even greater success this season, after spending her summer playing AAU ball and intensively training for three months this fall.

Brandon Clay, club director of the Peach State Elite Travel Program (www.peachstatehoops.com), nominated Yenser as a Gballmag.com High School Hero. "We were fortunate to have Susan come and play with us on our 17u team this summer," he says, noting that Yenser is ranked #6 in the state by the Peach State Hoops Report. "Sue really loves to play the game. She is always the first in the gym and the last to leave. Her commitment to improving landed her scholarship offers from Clemson, Cincinnati, Mississippi State, and South Florida."

In early November, Yenser signed a Letter of Intent to attend Clemson. Head Coach Jim Davis commented: "Susan is a versatile player. She can play any of the three perimeter positions. She is an excellent three-point shooter with great range. She is a great student of the game, and has great size for a guard."

In a recent e-mail interview, Yenser talked about her love of basketball, the college recruiting process, and how she chose to attend Clemson.

Gballmag.com: How long have you been playing basketball? When did you realize that you were pretty good at it?
Susan Yenser: I've been playing basketball since the third grade because that was the earliest I could get on a team. I guess I realized I was pretty good when I made the sixth grade team as a fifth grader. But I grew up with two older brothers and I was introduced to sports at an early age, so I always knew that I was pretty athletic.

What do you like most about playing basketball?
What I love most about playing basketball is practicing and getting better. A lot of people take their talent for granted and never really want to put in the extra time to develop it, but I love putting in that extra time. I love breaking things down and learning the fundamentals, because once you have the fundamentals, you can just let everything else come natural. I also love the team aspect of the game. I love the idea of coming together as a team and working to accomplish something, and then creating those special friendships that you carry on with you in life.

What was some of the highlights of your junior season? How did the team do in the postseason? What's the team's outlook for this year?
Some of my junior season highlights were earning 1st team All Cobb County, being named the Cobb County Tip Off Club Player of the Year, scoring my 1000th point and becoming the all-time leading scorer at Harrison High School. My team only made it to the second round of the region tournament where we lost to state-ranked Campbell. But our outlook for this season is looking good. We are kind of young, but we are athletic and we have a group of girls who love to play and leave it all out on the court. I'm excited because once we start to gel as a team, we will be able to make some things happen and hopefully surprise a few people.

Are you considered a team leader?
I would definitely consider myself a team leader. I have been the captain on the varsity team since my sophomore year, and I try to not only to be a vocal leader on the court, but also lead by example on and off the court.

Was this the first summer you've played AAU ball? How would you compare AAU to high school hoops?
This is not the first summer I've played summer ball. In fact, I've been playing since the summer after my 7th grade season. I got asked to play on a team made up of local Cobb County girls and a core of us ended up sticking together off and on for the next 5 years. AAU is very different from high school. The pace of the game is faster, and the games are usually more competitive because the talent level is higher. It gives you a chance to play against some of the most talented players around the country, which is an opportunity you don't have in high school ball. It also gives you a chance to play in front of almost every college coach in America, and is pretty much responsible for getting you recruited. But high school hoops gives you a chance to build more of a team atmosphere, and there is more of a team concept. It also gives you a chance to represent your community, so both of them have their upsides and I enjoy them both.

Do you like playing ball year-round? Do you do any other sports?
I absolutely love playing ball year round. I can't imagine doing it any other way. Once I started after my 7th grade year, I never really had an offseason. I've played fast-pitch softball every fall, which falls in between the AAU and high school seasons. I played softball from the end of August until the first of October, then the high school season from then until February, and then AAU from march until the end of August, so its just a big cycle. However, I didn't play softball this fall because I had to take time out for my recruiting visits. I took the extra time though to train at this place called Main Event Fitness, where I did Extreme Performance Enhancement (XPE) speed and agility training two days a week for 12 weeks. It was the greatest thing I ever did because they worked me really hard and got me ready for the season. Plus I got to work out with pro athletes like Steve Smith and Jamal Lewis, so it was a neat experience.

What was the recruiting process like for you? Did you have to deal with many college coaches? Did you take many visits to schools?
I really enjoyed the recruiting process as a whole. It was a learning experience and it was stressful at times, but I also had a lot of fun with it. Plus, both my brothers had already been through it with football (Zach is an offensive lineman at Troy University in Alabama, and Brett is a QB at West Georgia) so they were able to give me some advice on it all. Also, my dad, having gone through it twice before with my brothers, was there to kind of guide me through it. I got a chance to meet a lot of great people and I got to know a lot of college coaches. That was a hard part of making my decision, saying "no" to the other coaches that I had developed relationships, but I realized that it was all part of the process. I enjoyed talking on the phone with coaches for the most part, except it gets kind of time consuming after a while.

What made you choose Clemson?
I took three official visits, University of Cincinnati, Mississippi State and Clemson. I took a few unofficial visits throughout the end of my junior year and into the summer to places like Auburn and Middle Tenn. St, but I had it narrowed down to Miss. State, Univ. of Cincinnati, and Univ. of South Florida by the end of the summer and I knew I wanted to try and sign early. Actually, Clemson didn't come into the picture until about mid-August, when they had a scholarship slot open up and they called and offered it to me. I mean, they had recruited me before that, but nothing real serious until then. It was hard at first because I had gotten to know Cincinnati and Mississippi State really well by then, and I was actually pretty close to making up my decision. But I knew Clemson wasn't an option I could overlook.

So I took my official visits, and I was glad because it really gave me a good feel of what my options were. But Clemson was a school I had always liked from the beginning because my high school team went to team camp there every summer for four years and it was also only two hours away. Also, Coach Davis has had a really good program there for the last 17 years and I felt my style of play would be a good fit in his system. I also like his discipline and how hard work goes a long way with him. Clemson also had the major that I'm interested in, which is sports marketing.

Basically Clemson is the total package; I get to play for a great coach, in an established program, in a very competitive conference and all my friends and family can come watch me play. Once I committed, I never looked back, and I know that it was the right decision. It has been a dream of mine ever since I started playing basketball to get a Division I scholarship, and it's just really rewarding to know that all my hard work and dedication has paid off. God definitely handpicked Clemson for me, and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to live out my dream.

What parts of your game do you think need the most work to succeed on the next level?
One of the things I need to work on in my game to be successful at the next level would be my full court defense. Being able to play defense, one on one, for 90 feet is important, and I'm working really hard to increase my quickness so I can do so. That is something that has greatly improved for me from last year to this year thanks to my training, but I want to continue to get better at it. Also, the pace of the game is just going to pick up tremendously and I have to be able to do everything a step faster than in high school. I'm going to work on little things like getting my shot off quicker and being able to make split-second decisions.

Who is your favorite player?
My favorite basketball player is Sue Bird. We are alike because we are both fairly tall point guards/shooting guards and we like to distribute the ball. I love her court vision and how she is a very unselfish player. I try to be like her in the sense of getting my teammates involved in the game, and I would consider myself an unselfish player as well. She also has a great shot, and I love how smooth she plays the game. It's weird because I got the nickname "Bird" because I was so skinny my freshman year of high school, and then after a while people just started calling me "Sue Bird," before they even knew who the actual Sue Bird was. It's a pretty cool coincidence though considering she's my favorite player and we play a lot alike.

What do you do for fun in your spare time?
In my spare time I love to hang out with my friends and just have a good time. I'm a pretty laid-back person and I enjoy going to watch my brothers play football. I serve as a student leader for Student Venture, which is a high school Christian ministry group and I'm also involved with my church. I love watching sports and ESPN is definitely my favorite TV. channel. I like to listen to all kinds of music, but mostly hip-hop and R&B. I also like to write and record my own Christian rap songs in my free time. Also, I was Homecoming Queen this year at my school.

What do you plan to study in college? What are your favorite subjects in high school?
I plan on being a business major in either marketing or sports marketing and maybe getting a minor in Spanish. In high school I enjoy math and I also like studying literature. I have always worked very hard in school and it also comes pretty natural to me. I currently have a 4.212/4.0 GPA.

Article written by Gball Associate Editor Jim Catalano.

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