Natural leader takes Bulls to new heights

[S p e n c e]

Natural leader takes Bulls to new heights

Senior Anedra Gilmore relishes being the focus of an NCAA push.

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer

Published February 26, 2005

TAMPA - Anedra Gilmore should be a leader.

As a point guard, as a senior, she has the roles traditionally designated for leadership. In guiding USF to its first postseason appearance in last year's NIT, in leading the Bulls in pursuit of even more this season, she knows leading has required more than being a veteran or running the offense.

"I enjoy being a leader. I've never been too much of a follower," said Gilmore, one of two seniors, with Alana Tanksley, who will be recognized today as USF hosts UAB in the final home game of the regular season.

"I always like to hear my voice. I've got a very loud voice. Sometimes you have leaders who say a lot, but players don't listen because of attitudes."

The Bulls have listened. They have set a school record with 18 wins and are hopeful of making their first NCAA Tournament appearance next month. She is on pace to break the USF single-season assists record she set last season, but she's proudest just to see the way her team has come together the past two years.

"As far as the girls respecting me, and me getting something out of them, I think that's what I appreciate more," said Gilmore, 5-foot-6, who ranks third in Conference USA in assists (6.0 per game) and leads the category in league games. "I think they respect me, respect where I came from. I've had big wins under my belt."

Gilmore, 22, was a winner before she came to USF, having been the point guard on a Gulf Coast Community College team that went 35-0 and won a national title. On a team talented enough to send all five starters to Division I schools, Gilmore was a boundless source of confidence, especially at the final four.

"She might have been our most valuable player there, just in the way she was able to lead us, both verbally and with her play," Gulf Coast coach Roonie Scovel said.

Others from her junior college signed with more established programs such as Auburn, North Carolina State and Florida, but Gilmore liked what she saw at USF, along with the chance to play with forwards Jessica Dickson and Ezria Parsons, friends and teammates from her high school AAU team.

When she joined the Bulls, the school record for assists was 131 by Renee Bellamy in 1992. Gilmore finished her junior year with 175 and could top 200 this season. Her statistical contributions can easily be appreciated, but coach Jose Fernandez likes her for the toughness she has brought: physical toughness, such as taking seven stitches to close a cut under her eye from a collision against Saint Louis; and mental toughness, which can spill over and help change a team's attitude.

"She's got a real tough personality," he said. "We're a much different team when she's not on the floor. Our kids look for her to say something, to get on somebody, to motivate the entire team."

The Bulls need a strong conference tournament, likely making at least the semifinals, to merit consideration for an at-large NCAA berth. But Gilmore has thrived in USF's biggest games. She led the team in scoring in a loss at Duke, and when the Bulls played at Connecticut in December, she hit a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left to force overtime, the first opponent to force the Huskies to an extra period at Gampel Pavilion since it opened in 1990.

The Bulls lost in overtime, but it put USF on the map and could help it with the NCAA selection committee. Playing well in Charlotte would go a long way toward its ultimate goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament.

"I think we can beat anybody," Gilmore said. "I think we're going to go in and do a lot of damage. I'm not just saying that because we're going. The teams we're going to have to play after the first round are teams that beat us, so we'll be going out there with a vengeance."

Fernandez said Gilmore's experience on a young Bulls team has allowed USF to go places it hasn't been in decades.

"She's been a big part of our success here. She's really led us, both these years, to where we're at," he said. "Last year, we had such a young team that a lot of the kids looked up to her for a lot of leadership. She's really an extension of us on the floor."

Gilmore is talented enough to play professionally after this season, and she's interested in coaching college basketball as well. She is one of 25 players selected to a two-day seminar at the Final Four as part of the National Basketball Coaches Association's So You Want to Be a Coach program.

For now, she's still involved in the So You Want to Be a Vocal Senior Point Guard program, which calls for her not to talk about going to the Final Four as a spectator until she's sure she can't get her team there as a participant.

"Things might happen," she said

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/26/Sports/Natural_leader_takes_.shtml