Warren senior Shay Love knows as well as anyone that height doesn’t define a basketball player.
But the 4-foot-11 point guard also knows it can be difficult to convince other people.
“It’s hard being my height and being recognized,” Love said. “I try to overcome my height by playing like a big and playing with my heart.”
Indeed, Love is capable of making a big impact on the court. A four-year varsity player, Love is averaging 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 1.8 assists for the Blue Devils (13-8, 6-4) heading into a game against North Suburban Conference leader Stevenson on Wednesday, but she can’t be fully measured by statistics.
Love causes havoc on both ends of the court, constantly hitting the floor for loose balls, playing lockdown defense and hitting key free throws.
“If she was 5-9 or 5-10, colleges would be knocking her door down,” Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said. “The women’s game is just getting taller.”
Stanczykiewicz, a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, has coached several Division I players in his career. He said Love is the quintessential point guard.
“She’s maybe the best point guard I’ve ever coached at Warren,” Stanczykiewicz said. “In terms of being a pure point guard, she has all the tools. Shay’s a tremendous ballhandler, has tremendous floor vision and is an underrated scorer. She’s really developing into a very good shooter.”
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He said Love’s tenaciousness makes her a role model for younger players in the program.
“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog,” Stanczykiewicz said.
Warren senior forward Nari Powers, often one of the tallest players on the court at 6-1, said Love overcomes her lack of height with toughness and a willingness to attack the basket.
“(Shay) has that aspect of being able to drive and being so quick and strong, even at her height,” Powers said. “She brings a lot of energy to the team. We feed off of that.
“I feel like other teams doubt Shay just because of her height. They don’t notice how much speed she has and her capability to make plays for herself and the team.”
Love’s mother, Kasha Presley, said her love for basketball helped her thrive on the court.
“Her toughness came early on when she first started playing basketball at age 5,” Presley said. “She was always on teams with boys or training with them, so she had no choice but to be tough regardless of her height. She saw that her height might be a factor, so she made sure her speed and ballhandling made up for that.”
Love played the trombone in middle school, showing early signs that she could make some noise.
“It was little old me, just wanting to be bigger than I was,” she said. “That gave me confidence.”
Love said being named to the all-conference team is one of her goals this season. She was an honorable mention last year.
Love, who hopes to find a college where she can extend her playing career and major in nursing, mentors kids in Warren’s youth basketball program.
“I love helping the younger girls,” she said. “Some of them are shorter than me, and they look up to me. They love how I play. I feel I’ve proved a point to a lot of people who think basketball is all about height.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.