Dales-Schuman stars in new roleESPN uses Washington Mystics player and ex-Oklahoma Sooner for tournament coverage

knight ridder newspapers(KRT) – At the NCAA tournament a year ago, Stacey Dales-Schuman was a star on the court.This year, she is a rookie sensation on TV, getting attention for her part in ESPN’s television coverage of the tournament.Dales-Schuman, a two-time all-American senior guard, helped lead Oklahoma to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament title game last year before the Sooners lost to unbeaten Connecticut, 82-70.This year, she’s behind a desk as a studio analyst, working with Indiana Fever coach Nell Fortner of the WNBA and host Rece Davis.”It’s a pretty neat thing,” Dales-Schuman said during a recent break in the regional semifinals and finals.”I think you get some interesting perspectives for the audience because you have a current coach and a current player,” said Dales-Schuman, who plays for the WNBA Washington Mystics. “I know I’m learning a few things from Nell as a coach.”I have such a passion for basketball, and this has helped me and my game,” said Dales-Schuman, 23, a native of Brockville, Ontario, who played for the 2000 Canadian Olympic team. “Everyone has been helpful, and everyone involved is very professional in the way they go about their work. It’s just a great opportunity and learning experience.”It has been a challenging job for a TV novice, especially because this is the first year that ESPN and ESPN2 have combined to air all 63 games in the tournament.In the first two rounds, the studio team had to act as ringmasters, taking viewers in and out of games across the country.Dales-Schuman has worked hard on her preparation.”When I’m not working out in the gym, I’ve spent all my time on the computer, because I want to do the best job possible, and I’m not doing anyone a service if I haven’t done my homework and come to the set prepared,” she said. “I also want to get my viewpoints across and share what I feel. But I don’t want to be controversial just for its own sake.”I want to talk about as many players and teams as possible, because I want to give everyone a chance to hear themselves mentioned,” she added.”There’s not a lot of TV coverage of women’s basketball, and there are great stories and players who are unknown. There’s so much parity out there.”Apparently, network officials have been pleased with Dales-Schuman’s work to date.”I know she’s turned heads around here,” said Josh Krulewitz, a spokesman for the network. “It’s one thing to have a viewpoint. But in this business, timing and delivery are everything, and she’s been great.”Dales-Schuman recently drew high marks from her former college coach, Sherri Coale.”She’s every bit as talented behind this thing as she was playing for us,” Coale said, motioning toward a microphone recently during the Mideast Regional in Norman, Okla.Dales-Schuman knows a thing or two about brain power. She was an honors student at Oklahoma as a communications major.Oklahoma had not been much of a force in Division I before Dales-Schuman arrived in Norman to help Coale turn the Sooners into a national power.Since the 2002 Final Four, Dales-Schuman has had quite a hectic schedule.”Think about it,” she said in quick breaths, listing all the activities. “We get to the championship. Then a week or so later, I got married [to fellow Oklahoma student Chris Schuman]. Then I got drafted [third overall] by the Mystics. Suddenly, I have to move from life on the Bible Belt to a large Eastern city and one of the cultural capitals of America.”Then I got to help the Mystics turn their program around until I finally hit that rookie wall. But Coach [Marianne] Stanley was great. She rested me, and then I was ready to get into the playoffs, where we won the first round and then lost out to New York in the Eastern championship.””I’m excited about this season and what we can do,” Dales-Schuman said, adding that she did not know where things stood regarding WNBA negotiations with the players’ union for a new collective bargaining agreement.That’s a worry for another day. Dales-Schuman was concentrating on wrapping up the network’s coverage of the East and West finals, and then went to Atlanta for the Final Four at the Georgia Dome.