Dreier Carr
Following Tuesday’s practice, the women’s basketball team’s lone senior walks to the scorer’s table and places her protective knee brace, her ankle brace and her shoes on the table in front of her.
Both of her knees have ice wrapped around them and the forward from Roanoke, Va., has a big smile on her face.
It’s Khadijah Whittington and the scene describes her perfectly: An extroverted, bubbly person who has a battled history and a story that’s tough for many to comprehend.
The shoes in front of her have ink all over them. Each shoe is dedicated to two of the most important people in her life — coach Kay Yow and her father Monsoor Mohammed.
The right shoe has quotes from Yow and Whittington has written “I love my Yow” on it. There are 10 pink beads on the shoe — seven are there because that’s her lucky number, while the remaining three beads stand for the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
The other shoe has “Never give up” and “I love my dad” while his name is on the left side of the shoe.
“It’s something I do every year,” she said quietly while explaining the writing.
Stepping onto the court
Inside Reynolds Coliseum are the names of player’s before Whittington. And every time Whittington steps onto Kay Yow Court, she looks up.
Seven jerseys hang from the rafters — including Susan Yow, Kay’s younger sister, Trena Trice, currently an assistant coach and most recently, Chasity Melvin, who led the women’s team to the Final Four in 1998.
“I’ve pretty much read about all of them,” Whittington said with a smile.
She always looks at the No. 15 jersey, which is Trice’s. However, Whittington, who passed Trice in the record books in total rebounds against Duke, has another jersey that comes to mind first.
“Of course that Yow jersey, you automatically think about coach Yow, even though it’s not her,” Whittington said of Susan Yow’s No. 14 jersey.
Whittington is currently fourth all-time in N.C. State history in rebounds with 988. With 12 more, she’ll become only the fourth player to reach that mark for the Wolfpack. So far this season, the senior is averaging 17.6 points per game and 11.7 rebounds a game. She is third in the conference in points and first in rebounds — nearly three boards a game ahead of anyone else.
Asked Tuesday if she knew where she stood in total rebounds, Whittington had no idea she was only 12 away from 1,000.
“That just gives me the chills,” she said. “I’m really not thinking about getting the rebounds.”
According to junior guard Shayla Fields, an eighth retired jersey should be forthcoming.
“I think her jersey will be the next one to be retired,” Fields said. “It’s a great opportunity for her — and she’s worked so hard. She deserves for it to be up there.”
Even though Whittington didn’t want to talk about her jersey, she said if her team could put other banners on the wall, then she would stand a much better chance at seeing her name in the rafters.
“They’ve done a lot more than I’ve done,” Whittington said. “I don’t know. They’ve accomplished some great things.”
Motivation
One factor that could play a role on whether if Whittington’s jersey is retired would be the ACC Player of the Year award. And winning that award was a promise she made to her father before the season began.
Mohammed has Lou Gehrig’s Disease and is unresponsive to most of his surroundings. There is no cure for the disease and Mohammed hasn’t been able to watch any games on television all season. Thus, after last season with Yow’s continued battle with cancer, and with her father’s condition going into the season, she made the promise.
“After last season, just being able to witness what coach Yow went through, I just thought about my dad and what he’s going through,” she said. “I’m just very motivated. And I was thinking about all the things I can do — if I was to be the player I can be, I don’t see a reason why I can’t get it. I just want to work hard for both of them.”
She said setting her goals high gives her the opportunity to achieve great things in her final season.
“If I set my goals high, I can at least accomplish something. Even if I don’t get player of the year — that’s going to be my goal,” Whittington said.
Even though her father can no longer communicate, he had plenty of important messages for Whittington when she was starting college.
“When my dad was able to communicate, he always wanted me to set my goals high,” she said. “Basically, he started crying when I said that to him. That’s motivation.”
Luckily for Whittington, she has had Yow there for her. Yow’s father, Hilton, also battled sickness before passing away last March. And that battle was something Yow could relate to with Whittington.
“She was able to talk to me about it being that her father was in the same situation,” Whittington said. “The whole thing just changed my attitude toward life and wanting things just for me. It made me come outside of myself.”
But Whittington’s motivation isn’t just from her father — Yow plays an important factor as well.
“We see her and we really don’t know what she’s going through,” Whittington said. “But then you see all these blisters on her hand and she has to wear tennis shoes — it just makes you know that you have to work for her. I don’t think everybody really gets who she is — she’s a legend.”