June 5, 2009
UNCASVILLE, Conn. -
Kristi Cirone`s career as an Illinois State basketball player ended April 1 after she led the Redbirds on the deepest postseason run in program history. Most Redbird fans knew that wouldn't be the last time she would play basketball and that notion was confirmed Friday when she made the final roster for the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. The Sun cut its roster down to the WNBA limit of 11 late Thursday night.
"When I got the call, I was just speechless. Shocked," Cirone said about when she found out that she made the team. "I talked to Coach Thibault and he just told me he couldn't find a way to cut me. It feels good because I've worked so hard for this my whole life and I couldn't have done it without a ton of people: my family, everyone at Illinois State, my coaches, Coach Pingeton. They just kept pushing me and challenging me."
Cirone, who will wear No. 25 for the Sun, averaged 2.0 points and 1.0 assist over three preseason contests, while playing 6.7 minutes per game. She committed just one turnover.
Connecticut hosts the Washington Mystics to open the 2009 regular season Saturday at 3 p.m. CST. Cirone will return to Illinois early in the season when the Sun visit the Chicago Sky Tuesday, June 16, at 8 p.m. CST.
The Sun cut former first-round draft pick Ketia Swanier, who was Cirone's biggest competition for a roster spot, Monday, but then claimed veteran guard Keisha Brown of waivers Wednesday. Many reports claimed that either Brown or Cirone would be kept as a back-up guard, but both players ended up making the final roster. The Sun's final cuts were Danielle Page, 2009 second-round draft pick Lyndra Littles and free agent Careem Gray.
"I can't say enough about the program at Illinois State," Cirone said. "I hope this helps get their name out there a little bit because it's a great school and a great program with great players and awesome coaches."
Cirone is the first Illinois State player and the fourth Missouri Valley Conference player to make a WNBA roster. Missouri State's Jackie Stiles, the only other player to be named MVC Player of the Year three times, enjoyed the most illustrious WNBA career. She was drafted fourth overall in the 2001 WNBA Draft and won the Rookie of the Year award that season, but injuries cut short her career soon after. Fellow Lady Bear Jenni Lingor played two seasons for the Detroit Shock and Drake's Carla Bennett played one season for the Minnesota Lynx.
