By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
Scoring 1,000 points in a basketball career is impressive. Doing it twice is twice as nice.
Former Delavan-Darien standout Alana Cesarz did just that on Dec. 17 when she accomplished the feat for a second time for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Lady Rebels in a home 88-84 loss to undefeated Northwestern.
Cesarz, a senior, also scored over 1,000 career points for the Comets and said she did it the same way. Cesarz said she scored her 1,000th point for the Lady Rebels on a free throw after missing a previous attempt left her wondering if she would get another opportunity to get the mark in that game. She did, just as she had in high school.
Cesarz said she was not even aware she was close to 1,000 points until a week before getting there. Though she said she it was not a goal she was specifically working toward, she was happy to achieve it.
“It means I was not just successful in high school,” she said.
Her mother, Jen Cesarz, agreed.
“Some athletes peak in high school,” Jen Cesarz said. “It amazes me how much she is still improving and she can still get better.”
Jen said she and Alana’s father, Jeff Cesarz, are very proud of Alana. Like Alana, they were not aware it would be possible for Alana to reach the milestone considering she missed much of her sophomore season due to a knee injury.
“She is so consistent, is a good leader by example, and she works hard on and off the court,” UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier said. “She is a good student and player.”
Olivier said Cesarz is very steady and will be missed tremendously when she graduates. As for the remainder of this season, the Lady Rebels are just 3-8, but Cesarz is optimistic the team can improve and compete in the Mountain West.
Cesarz said her main goal when she came to UNLV was to become an all-conference player – something she was known for as a high school player. She accomplished that as a junior as an Honorable Mention All-Mountain West selection. She said she might have accomplished it as a sophomore if not for the knee injury.
“At first it was more mental than physical,” Cesarz said about overcoming the injury. She said she got her range of motion back quickly but still had to get over the fear of feeling the pain again.
“It made me stronger mentally and physically,” she said.
“She came back better than before,” Olivier said. “I even forgot she had been injured.”
Olivier said Cesarz had been playing very good basketball when she went down with the injury and she used her rehabilitation time to work on her game.
“She does so much more now,” Olivier said.
“She is not just a scorer, she is a leader, she passes well, and she defends well,” she added. “We are much better with her on the floor.”
Cesarz said it helped to have a surgeon who is the team doctor for the Olympic swim team. That and her hard work led her back strong enough to lead the Lady Rebels in scoring last season at 13.8 points per game. This year she is second on the team at 17.8 points per game, just off the pace of 17.9 points set by Danielle Miller.
“Sometimes you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone and you take things for granted,” Cesarz said. “Now I try to take every practice and game like it’s my last. It makes me work harder.”
Cesarz said that while she is known for being a good inside and outside threat offensively, her three-point shot has been a bit off so far this year, which is frustrating because she does well in practice. She is happy with her improvement as a rebounder as she leads the team with 7.9 per game making her a better all-around player.
Cesarz said being a successful Division I college player takes extra work.
“You can’t be OK with just doing things at practice, and you can’t take the summers off,” she said.
Cesarz said she is sometimes tempted to just lay out in the sun during the summer or go out with her friends, but she has to remain focused on practicing basketball and working with her strength and conditioning coach.
“She has sacrificed a lot to devote her life to basketball, and it has really paid off,” her mother said.
Cesarz said she is proud of herself for overcoming a lot in her career. Before the knee injury, she had to overcome some self-doubt.
“I was not sure this was the place for me to be,” she about her freshman year. “I wondered if I would last.”
Her mother said Alana became homesick during that year and would call or text home frequently, but she gradually got more comfortable being so far from home and now even talks about playing in Europe after her collegiate days are done.
“If she has the desire and good health and it is a safe place she should try it,” Jen Cesarz said, admitting there are some places in Europe she and Jeff would counsel her not to play in. She also said the WNBA could be an option. If this does turn into a possible path, then one day she could be on WNBA cards for people to collect and trade, who knows what could be next for her.
“She could play in Europe,” Olivier said. “She has good numbers and is very consistent.”
Cesarz is majoring in kinesiology and is working on a psychology minor. The more she has learned about psychology, the more she said she wants to earn a master’s degree in that field and possibly become a sports psychologist.
Cesarz also tries to keep things in perspective. Family is very important to her as is being a good role model. She said she has run some basketball camps in the summer for kids and is humble enough to talk to anyone who wants to talk to her.
Those values led her and her team to honor the late Lilly Perry, who died on Dec. 9 from complications of an asthma attack. The Lady Rebels wore purple and lime green shoelaces in the same game Cesarz scored her 1,000th point to honor Perry because those were her favorite colors.
Cesarz said she didn’t know Lilly well but was close with her older brother, Quincy, and Lilly played on the same football team as her 12-year old brother, Justin.
“It was great my teammates were willing to do that for me,” Cesarz said. “Coach even wrote ‘For Lilly’ on the board.”
Cesarz said the Perry family had told her in the past that Lilly admired her, so she will always have a special place in her heart.
Olivier said Cesarz is stepping up as a senior should, taking on more of a leadership role and taking her game to another level. Olivier said she got on Cesarz during an early-season game and she responded well. She is also the team’s representative on the school’s student athletic council.
“She is our spokesperson on campus and in the community,” Olivier said. “She is a great example of what Lady Rebels basketball is all about.”
“She has grown a lot as a player and as a person,” her mother said. “She has grown and matured as an adult, she has proven to herself that she can do it, and she doesn’t need her parents as much as she used to.
“She is never satisfied and that is what pushes her. She is an amazing role model –she shows what can happen when you work hard.”
