It usually takes a college basketball player a few seasons to make an impact, let alone ascend to the role of team leader. Rea Lin D'Alie stepped in as a starter last year as a true freshman and is looking to lead Wisconsin to bigger things her sophomore year.
D'Alie arrived in Madison with a bang, starting every game in her first season and leading the Big Ten in assists. She stands at only 5'3\ but has a big presence on and off the court.
""Rea Lin drives the bus. She's a bit like me, get on the bus, drive the bus,"" head coach Lisa Stone said. ""Help people, get ready, get them to where they need to go, make good decisions, get the job done.""
""I've told her ... get the team on, they'll follow you and show them the way. She's energetic. She's a delightful person. She's one of the best point guards in the country.""
Being one of the shortest players in women's college basketball, D'Alie has to fight even harder to make her impact on the court. Her dedication and competitiveness help make up for any height issues.
""She knows her size has been maybe a disadvantage for her all her life, so she makes up for it by hard work,"" senior guard Janese Banks said. ""She does it every day. She does extra workouts now. She did extra workouts in the preseason ... She's doing a lot better and she's very valuable.""
D'Alie comes from an athletic family. Three of her siblings competed in college athletics, including her brother Sam, who plays semi-pro football. Her father was a Golden Gloves champion.
She played Pop Warner football when she was younger, tried wrestling in grade school and played soccer and golf in high school.
In high school, D'Alie led Waterford High School to an appearance in the state finals and earned all state honors as a senior. At the state tournament Stone saw D'Alie play and was convinced, offering her a scholarship before she left Madison. Being the starting point guard so early at UW brought a lot of pressure, but D'Alie took that in stride.
""I expected to do a lot in my freshman year,"" D'Alie said. ""I had great leadership around me that kind of helped me through that ... it was a fun freshman year.""
Last season the big contributions of D'Alie and fellow freshman Mariah Dunham keyed a big turnaround for the women's basketball team. Wisconsin went from 11-18 to 23-13 and advanced to the finals of the WNIT.
""We would not have had [last year's] success without her,"" Stone said. ""She was a key reason why we were able to move Janese [Banks] and Jolene [Anderson] to the off guard and have a very successful perimeter attack. Without her we wouldn't have done what we did last year.""
Wisconsin will be looking for D'Alie to be the floor general, get the ball into the hands of its scorers and help her teammates in high-pressured situations.
""If things aren't going so well she can pull me aside and be like, 'All right, let's go; we need you in the game,'"" Dunhan said. ""Just to get that motivation. Just to calm you down and at the same time fire you up when you need to be fired up.""
D'Alie is also the start of the Badger defense registering 1.7 steals per contest last season, good for second on the team. The intensity on that end of the floor helped the Badgers rank third in the Big Ten in steals last season and hold opponents under 63 points per game.
""The thing about her is that she's now a sophomore so all of the transition is over,"" Stone said. ""That is the biggest comfort for me, knowing that I can put her in a tough situation knowing she's been in that situation before.""
Last season D'Alie shot just 41 percent from the field and opponents often dared her to hit shots from the perimeter. She worked on that over the summer to the point where Stone said, ""If there's an open shot, she'll make it nine times out of 10.""
With the Badgers' excellent finish last season they are now ranked and are looking to make an impact this year. D'Alie is not pulling any punches saying that her goals are to win a Big Ten title and to get as far as possible in the NCAA tournament.
D'Alie's role on this team goes beyond points and assists. She leads while having a positive impact on those around her.
""I know a lot of people on the team, even if they didn't come together in the same class as her, everyone's really close with her,"" Dunham said. ""She's just a loving person and somebody that you're connected to the moment you meet her.""
