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Ever since I could remember, my goal was to be a professional athlete like my father. I was fortunate enough to accomplish that in Europe. When I first started playing basketball professionally, the only place to go was Europe or Japan. There was not a league in the United States. Now that there is a professional league, WNBA, my goal is to come back home to play. I've been trying since the league started 4 years ago. I signed with the Cleveland Rockers for their pre-season team but was waived before the final cut. So, I am still working on that goal. Last season I changed player position from inside to outside so the WNBA committee and organization can see that I am a versatile player. I can help any team in two positions, power forward and guard. I hope my hard work and determination will pay off and I will get my opportunity to play in the WNBA this next season.
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 Cleveland Rockers
Forward-thinking hopefuls fill Rockers training camp
Saturday, May 15, 1999
By LIZ ROBBINS
PLAIN DEALER REPORTER
Teresa Palmisano spent three years attempting to make it to the WNBA, trying out first and then calling Rockers coach Linda Hill-MacDonald to sell herself.
Finally, she used the direct approach. "This year, I sent her a fax, and put her name in really large letters," Palmisano said with a laugh.
But such persistence was not the only thing that drew Hill-MacDonald's attention. Palmisano's mentor, Pete Newell, the legendary University of California basketball coach and Cavaliers West Coast scout, recommended her to the Rockers.
A 6-3 forward/center six years out of California, Palmisano played her way onto the Rockers' training-camp roster, one of six forwards vying for a spot as the preseason officially opened with a five-hour practice yesterday in Gund Arena.
Five of the 19 players on the roster were not in Cleveland because they were either overseas playing for their national teams or at college graduation. While veteran guard Michelle Edwards was back with the team after signing a contract yesterday morning with the league, Merlakia Jones was absent. Her agent was still negotiating through late last night, and the league would not allow her to practice.
As the morning practice ended, the number of Rockers able to participate dwindled to 12. Forward Alisa Burras, a 1998 graduate of Louisiana Tech, went down with a sprained right knee and was listed as day to day.
By the end of the day, the team had picked up another forward, when 6-0 Deborah Carter signed with the league. Carter played for the Washington Mystics last season, and the Utah Starzz in the inaugural season.
Carter can appreciate the attitude of the five other forwards, who were happy to fill significant roles for the Rockers, no matter how temporary they might be.
Cara Pearson is used to such an itinerant life. Since graduating from Minnesota in 1995, Pearson has been a librarian, a postal worker, a high school basketball coach and a professional basketball player in Finland.
"I'm back doing what I like to do," grinned Pearson, a 6-0 small forward, who was a former graduate assistant under Hill-MacDonald at Minnesota. "I'm here just to fill a role - the do-anything-to-stay-on-the-team role."
Palmisano said she intends to learn all three frontcourt positions in the Rockers' triple-post offense. "That way I can be that versatile utility player," she said.
Tammye Jenkins is fresh off a stint overseas, her passport having recently been stamped in Israel. For the 6-4 forward, eight years out of Georgia, yesterday felt reassuringly familiar. Jenkins was a fourth-round draft pick for the Rockers last year, but was released at the start of the season.
"My biggest setback last year was my arthritis in my knee," said Jenkins. She has since had arthroscopic surgery and wears a sleeve on her right knee. "I'm real honored to have another opportunity, but there are no guarantees."
Karen Wilkins, a 6-1 forward who has played in Sweden, Portugal, Germany and Israel since graduating from Howard, joined teammates trying to pick up the Rockers' offense yesterday.
"We had a lot of teaching because we had a lot of new players," said Hill-MacDonald. "We tried to slow things down. We were throwing a lot of things at them today."
Not that they were complaining.
©1999 THE PLAIN DEALER. Used with permission.
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