Transcript
Narrator: Sure, Alexis Hornbuckle’s got talent -- but she gives the credit to her family and their years of support. And they say it’s her passionate dedication to the sport.
Jerome Hornbuckle: Alexis really worked hard and she was constantly. I call her in at night even when she was little she wanted to dribble and dribble up and down the road. She was a pain. Well I started her out when she was probably three or maybe a little younger than that. Her and Cedric both, teaching them how to do things right. I wanted them to be fundamentally sound and so I had them both dribble left hand, right hand so that they would become, my opinion, unstoppable.
Alexis Hornbuckle: My dad taught me very young that you know what type of game you’re capable of and if you can contribute in whether it’s defense or rebounding or deflections or whatever it doesn’t matter if you start or you come off the bench, it’s what you do with those minutes when you’re in the game.
Quandora Hornbuckle: At ten years old she was already known in North Carolina; which is, you know, basketball country. And then she was probably around sixth grade, fourth grade something like that, she just started bleeding orange. She wanted to go to Tennessee. And so that was very young age where she decided where she wanted to go to school.
Narrator: Alexis soon earned national recognition. As a high school senior she was selected to the McDonald’s All-American girl’s basketball team and Parade’s All American first team.
On offense, Alexis averaged 24 points and five assists a game. Her defense packed a powerful punch too. Averaging 17 rebounds, eight steals and eight block shots a game, she was a guard many colleges wanted on their team.
Jerome: Before Alexis came along West Virginia was an unrecruited state nationally. There were no colleges coming to West Virginia, no major colleges. No Pats, no Genos coming in watching our players. Then when Alexis came along she opened a lot of doors. When you get college coaches of that magnitude coming in to watch high school girls’ basketball, you know, that’s saying a lot.
Narrator: At Tennessee, Hornbuckle broke the record for steals with three hundred seventy-three. She finished her career with 56 steals in NCAA tournament games, second on the list. One of her most unforgettable moments took place in 2007, when Coach Pat Summitt brought her Lady Vols to Charleston to play the Lady Mountaineers.
Alexis: And when she told me, she said I’m going to have to take you out you’re two points shy of breaking your 1000th point. I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait Coach I got this run a play for me and I’m going to score. And we ran an offense and I came off a screen, a high screen, at the free throw line and shot a jumper and made my 1000th point. And it felt good.
Narrator: Hornbuckle credits her family for giving her the motivation to succeed – like in a 2008 game against Louisiana State University with a trip to NCAA championship game on the line.
Alexis: My grandmother passed away so my whole season was dedicated to her. I wrote on my shoes, you know, “give me strength”. And I was struggling all game; I was basically stinking up the court. And I just kept looking at my shoes and praying like give my strength no matter what I need to do, let me help my team. I basically just saw the ball and just wanted to make a difference in the game no matter what the prior situation was. Honestly when the shot went in tears came to my eyes. I think I was more emotional at that moment then I was when we actually won because I was able to stay strong and not get discouraged.
Narrator: The WNBA draft was held in Tampa the day after Tennessee won the national title.
Quandora: We all figured she would be in the top ten. And so the night before we were kind of tossing it around and I said “ok I think she’s going to go fourth” and I named the first four and that’s the way it played out. So it was fantastic, I was just so thrilled for her and proud of her.
Alexis: And when I got called as number four I just looked at my mom and dad I think their smile was bigger than mine. Just to realize the accomplishment that I have achieved.
Quandora: I think Detroit was a good place for her. Not only because of their style of play but because she has family in Detroit.
Alexis: It’s a good match because I love to be challenged. I love a challenge. That’s how Bill Laimbeer is in Detroit and I saw that and I noticed that just growing up watching the WNBA.
Quandora: But it really makes you proud when you see somebody wearing her jersey with her number and her name on it. And you go to Detroit and they have each player, they have a section. Alexis’ section is “Hornbuckle’s Ballers,” you know it’s just really neat to see that. I’m like that’s my child that they’re referring to, it’s a great thing but it’s still mind boggling.
Alexis: As far as accomplishments I think just coming in as a rookie and being able to contribute toward a championship team and coming out on top, that’s probably one of my biggest. Winning back to back collegiate championships is really hard. But just to come in as a freshman, I mean as a rookie in the WNBA and contribute that meant a lot to me.
Quandora: During the championship games they had NBA TV there interviewing people before and after the games getting their comments and reviewing the game and talking about it. Afterwards I was talking with Tina Thompson. And I was talking with her and I got to meet Cheryl Miller also and they were saying there’s, there’s a big future ahead for your daughter. And to have those veterans that have been around the game for that number of years and even Cheryl with her brother Reggie in knowing the game to say something like about Alexis, I think she is going to a make a big impact on the WNBA.
Narrator: The Detroit Shock opens its season to defend its title on June 6. Hornbuckle says she is hoping to start this year, but either way it doesn’t matter – as long as she can contribute to the team.