Leslie earns Player of the Month; enjoying Australian success

Houma native Sumar Leslie continues to earn recognition for her excellent play in the land Down Under.

Leslie was named the Big V’s Division I Player of the Month for April on Thursday – a fitting accomplishment for the Nicholls graduate and former great Vandebilt Catholic graduate, who now plays professionally for the Werribee Devils in Australia.

For the season, Leslie is averaging 23.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 6.1 steals per game for a Devils team that is 7-2 on the season – first place in the league.

Leslie is the league’s leading scorer. She also leads the league in steals, free throws made and free throws attempted on the season.

Speaking to The Times on Thursday morning (Wednesday night in Louisiana), Leslie said she’s honored to be given the recognition.

“I didn’t know about this until just now, but to be recognized is certainly a great honor and is something that I’m happy for,” Leslie said. “I’ve definitely worked hard, and I’ve put in countless hours to make sure that these things could happen. I couldn’t be blessed with a better team or teammates. We have a great group here, and we just want to keep it all rolling.”

Life in Australia has been a big adjustment for Leslie, but she said she really enjoys the people she’s met and also the community she lives in.

In Australia, basketball is still fairly new – a growing sport that is quickly becoming among the most popular for a sports-crazed populous.

Because of that popularity, Leslie has a two-pronged role in Werribee. Of course, she’s a player, but she’s also a teacher of the game to the young Australian youth.

When not on the practice floor, Leslie spends her days working with grade-school children in Australia making sure that they learn the proper fundamentals. She also helps coach practices for some of Werribee’s youth-league teams, while also working basketball camps.

Leslie said the children Down Under are eager and diligent – maybe even more-so than those in the United States.

She would know.

Before leaving the United State for another tour playing overseas, Leslie founded The Young Generation – a basketball training service, which taught the fundamentals of the game to a slew of kids in the Houma-Thibodaux area.

“The kids here are great,” she said. “They work hard and they want so badly to be as good as they can be at the game. I love that. But more important than any of that, I love the positive energy they have and the good vibe that the kids here keep. Everyone is always in a good mood. Everyone is always laughing and smiling. The kids here just love to be loved. They love the attention, and I just feed off that and it really gives me power in my day.”

On the court, things are going pretty well right now for Leslie and the Devils.

Werribee won just three games last season and were near the bottom of the standings in Big V’s Division One.

But the team signed Leslie, Australian legend Rohanee Cox and Jessy Price in the offseason and the trio have done big-time work to turn things around.

The Devils started the season 6-0 – winning five of those six games by double-digits.

The team lost its first game this past weekend – a 67-66 setback against the Keilor Thunder.

But Werribee battled back a day later, beating the Whittlesea Pacers 87-70.

Leslie had 30 points in that win.

This past weekend, Werribee lost 84-69 against the Chelsea Gulls, but the defeat comes with a grain of salt, because the Devs were without Cox, who was out with a back injury.

In that game, Leslie was superb again, scoring 28 points (11-of-20 shooting) with 6 rebounds and 8 steals.

“The competition level here is good,” Leslie said. “There are a lot of really good players and a lot of teams that really play a good, selfless style of team basketball. Right now, we have it going and we’re playing pretty well. But we’re encouraged, because we work so hard in practice and know there are so many things we can continue to do better as a team. Once we get those things down, we think we can be even better than we are right now.”

Leslie said the team’s goal for the rest of the season is clear – keep gelling and try and win the championship.

When she, Cox, Price and the others within the team are playing well, they’ve proven to be arguably the most explosive team in the league – a group capable of overwhelming opponents with their quickness, skill and athleticism.

“We’re in it to win it,” Leslie said. “We believe we can do it, too.”

After the season, Leslie said she’s going to use her current momentum to survey the globe even further.

She said she expects to have additional opportunities to play in Australia – offers she’s open to if the team is a right fit.

She also will look for positions at other places around the world.

“I like Australia, because it’s like the best of both worlds,” Leslie said. “The world is not a safe place today, so there are some opportunities out there, but they aren’t always necessarily in the most safe, peaceful places. Australia is pretty well insulated from that. I’m safe here. That, and I’m doing what I love. To me, that’s pretty hard to beat.”

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