Sports: Lady Raptors Star Juggles Too!

Other than the tendonitis in her knees and a sore shooting wrist, things are getting easier for Rutgers University-Camden women's basketball star Joy Silver. That's not good news for the Lady Raptors' opponents, because the junior center out of Woodrow Wilson High School has made things look easy since completing her roundabout journey to the Camden campus in the fall of 1999. The hard part for Silver has been the challenges of attending college, where she's a Criminal Justice major intent on becoming an FBI negotiator, and playing basketball in the rugged New Jersey Athletic Conference while raising a young child. Her son, Isaac, was born September 21, 1999. It was Isaac's impending birth that brought Silver back from a Division I basketball scholarship at Maryland-Eastern Shore to her family's support in Camden.

"It's hard, but it's getting a little easier as he's growing older," said Silver, who turns 22 on February 23. "When he was a baby, he was sick all the time. The first thing in the morning I take him to day care, then I go to school, then after practice I pick him up. After he goes to bed, I have time to study." Fortunately for Silver, she has a good support system, including her parents, David and Sheila, and her boyfriend of two years, Wilfredo Ortiz. Isaac also spends weekends with his father, Rafael Perez. "I don't know how she does it," Ortiz said. "Sometimes it's hard for her. Sometimes she says, 'I'm so tired.' Everybody gives her support."

"My boyfriend helps out a lot," Silver said. "If I'm late at practice, he picks up Isaac. If we have away games, he watches him for me. My folks are real supportive. If I need a sitter, they watch him for me." Isaac may be getting older, but as any parent knows, the work never ends, even during the holidays. "There's no semester break," Silver laughed. "He keeps me on the run all the time. He really likes wrestling. He knows all the moves. He practices them on me. I have to pretend with him. When he goes to our games and practices, he tries to dribble the ball. Sometimes we'll be running up and down the court in practice and we have to go around him."

Silver was a high school star at Woodrow Wilson, where she collected a rare career double-double by passing the 1,000 milestone in both points and rebounds. It's an accomplishment she's well on her way to matching again at Rutgers-Camden. In addition to helping the Tigers win Group 3 state titles as a sophomore and a junior, Silver played several years with the AAU Philadelphia Belles, sparking plenty of collegiate interest. Silver's main choice was the University of Massachusetts. While her grades were fine, she barely missed the minimum SAT scores for the Amherst, Mass., school, leaving her with two choices: head to a junior college program or to Maryland-Eastern Shore.

She chose to attend school in Princess Anne, Maryland, since she liked the campus and Maryland-Eastern Shore offered criminal justice as a major. She started classes in the summer of 1998. She worked to improve her academic standing throughout the school year so she'd be eligible to play with the Lady Hawks during the 1999-2000 season. Isaac changed those plans. "I didn't know (about the pregnancy) until about six months," she said. "It was around May and my mom told me I was getting fatter. I was confused. We were done by the end of May, and I took off to have Isaac." And to find a support system close to home. She found it with the Lady Raptors after talking to former Camden High School and Rutgers star, Karla Robinson.

Silver played her first Rutgers-Camden game Dec. 29, 1999 in the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Holiday Tournament. Two games later, she scored a career-high 31 points against Centenary. She went on to average 18.6 points and 13.8 rebounds, leading the NJAC in both categories as a freshman, and finishing 33rd and seventh, respectively, among all NCAA Division III players. Amazingly, she was left off all postseason NJAC all-star teams. "That has happened since high school," said Silver. "They gave a lot of credit to girls under me, when I had better stats. I figured it would happen. All it does is give me the motivation to do better."

The NJAC couldn't help but notice her as a sophomore, when she led the conference in scoring (19.3) and rebounding (12.0) again, and also led in blocked shots (1.96 per game). This time she was named NJAC Player of the Year, added ECAC Div. III Metro First Team honors and was named Div. III Kodak Honorable Mention All-American, and D3hoops.com Fourth Team All-American.

Silver isn't resting on her laurels. "I'm trying to work on getting my rebounds up, always keeping my eye on the ball and what angle it's going to be at, so I can be at that spot," she said. Silver's hard work is paying off. She's averaging 13.3 rebounds per game this season, including a career-high 24 in a win at Lehman College Dec. 13. She also scored 30 points in that game to become the ninth player in program history to pass 1,000 career points. Through the Raptors' first 14 games she's hiked her career totals to 1,133 points (sixth in school history) and 759 rebounds. She's on pace to become only the second 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound player in program history, following Tamara Carey (1,846 points, 1,061 rebounds from 1991-95). She's averaging 19.8 points and 2.6 blocked shots.

Silver's accomplishments are more amazing considering that she's been playing hurt. Her right wrist has bothered her since it was injured during her freshman year. Her thumbs also were hurting last season, hampering her shooting. This year she's had tendonitis in both knees. "Sometimes pain will just shoot through them," she said. "I have to try to suck it up or ice it up during a time out."

Despite the pain, her accomplishments have increased, as have the fortunes of the Lady Raptors. Rutgers went 5-19 during her freshman year, using a seven-player roster. Last season the Raptors were 17-10 and reached the ECAC Metro NY/NJ tournament final. This season's team jumped off to a 10-4 start and Silver earned NJAC Player of the Week, ECAC Metro Honor Roll and a pair of Raptor of the Week honors in the first 12 games. An eight-time Raptor of the Week during her career, she also was named MVP of the Craig Keeler Memorial Tournament at FDU-Madison Jan. 4-5. "She's the type of player you can build a program around," said third-year Raptors coach Jackie Trakimas. "Joy's come into her own in the last year. She's developed so many aspects of her game. She helps us on the defensive end. She's come in shape and is able to run the floor. There are numerous times when she's led the break in our transition. She's really developed from her first year."

Silver plans to continue that development. "Next year I want to take my game up to a totally different level," she said. If Silver can make things that easy for herself on the court, life will be even more difficult for her opponents off the court.

Content provided by South Jersey Sports Club.

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Author: Marc Narducci