Elizabeth Boquet
December 13, 2016
Sportsman’s Paradise
December 13, 2016
After months of deliberation, research, hard work and patience, Houma guard Sumar Leslie finally knows where she will play her basketball in the 2017 season.
She’s taking her talents to the land down under.
The area pro announced this week she’d signed a one-year deal with the Werribee Devils in Australia – a team that competes in one of the top professional leagues in the Southern Hemisphere.
Leslie, 26, said the opportunity was too good to pass up, adding she can’t wait to get started in the season, which begins March 2017.
It will be her third professional season after graduating from Nicholls State University in 2012.
“It’s just such a blessing,” Leslie said. “Everything just sort of had its way of falling into place. I had interest from places all over the world – some places I didn’t even know existed, and to me, that’s such a blessing to be in such high demand. But at the end of the day, something always felt right about Australia. I’d go through some of my options, then I’d always get back to Australia and how much I loved the country, the team and the vibe. I just think it’s a great place, and I am so, so excited to get started.”
Werribee is getting a standout
combo guard who is in the best shape of her life.
Leslie said she’s trained harder in the past year than ever before, and she will report to the team in tip-top shape.
The local pro said she found Werribee through extensive online research by both she and members of her inner circle.
They are a program that is familiar with the area, having also signed Nicholls men’s basketball players Jeremy Smith and Fred Hunter in the past.
Leslie said she chose the Devils after getting contract offers in Serbia, Brazil, Puerto Rico and also from another team down under.
She said what drew her to Werribee was the hospitality of Devils coach Mahaela Jackson, who Leslie said was open and honest with her throughout the process.
The Devils were a rebuilding team last season but are expected to contend far more favorably in the new season, thanks to Leslie and a couple of the Australian natives the team has signed in the offseason.
“This is wonderful news,” Jackson said. “The whole team is very much looking forward to having her join our family and looking forward to a great season. … She’s a wonderful woman.”
“Coach Jackson and I really meshed from the first time we met and talked, and I just decided right away that she was someone that I’d like to play for,” Leslie added.
“A lot of times, I’ve learned that coaches like to sugar coat things or paint a picture that’s not really there – especially in professional basketball. But (Jackson) was honest with me about what the team could offer, what the roster was like, and what we needed to do to make this work, and that was a big attraction to me.”
Leslie said she doesn’t like putting expectations onto herself before a season, but history shows that Werribee can expect a versatile scorer who is an absolute monster as an on-ball defender.
The Vandebilt Catholic graduate and all-time school leader in points, assists and steals, was an All-Southland Conference pick for the Colonels in her senior season with Nicholls, which allowed her to sign her first pro contract in Puerto Rico with the San German Atleticas in the fall of 2012.
Leslie joined that team in the middle of the season and took them from outside of playoff contention all the way to the league semifinals, averaging 15 points per game, while leading the league in steals.
After sitting out the 2013 season to rest her body after the rigors of a college and pro season back-to-back, Leslie later returned to action as a member of the Louisiana Bayou Angels in 2014, averaging more than 20 points per game with eight assists and six steals per game.
But with Werribee, she thinks that she can do even better, because of the hard work she’s put in along the way to get ready and also the people she’s playing for while there.
In 2014, Leslie started The Young Generation (TYG) – a youth basketball training program that has helped close to 40 children in the area, ages 5-18.
She said she wants everyone in the program to know she’s playing for them in the upcoming season.
“I’ve gotten so much support from everyone along the way, and it really warms my heart and makes me so happy,” Leslie said. “I will be gone for a couple months, but I want everyone in the TYG family to know that I love them and I appreciate them all so much. I come from a big family, but I also have made more family in that process, and I am taking everyone’s warmth, support and love all the way with me to Australia and using it to motivate me to do the best I can to make everyone proud.”
‘It’s just such a blessing. … I just think it’s a great place…’
Sumar Leslie
Houma-based pro basketball player, giving her thoughts after signing a contract this past week to continue her career in Australia with the Werribee Devils
‘It’s just a great place, and I’m so excited to get started.’
Sumar Leslie, Houma native and local professional basketball player, after signing a contract to continue her career with the Werribee Devils
