By Mel Greenberg, Inquirer Staff Writer

At the NCAA tournament a year ago, Stacey Dales-Schuman was a star on
the court. This year, she is a rookie sensation on TV, getting
attention for her part in ESPN's television coverage of the
tournament.

Dales-Schuman, a two-time all-American senior guard, helped lead
Oklahoma to the NCAA women's basketball tournament title game last
year before the Sooners lost to unbeaten Connecticut, 82-70.

This year, she's behind a desk as a studio analyst, working with
Indiana Fever coach Nell Fortner of the WNBA and host Rece Davis.

"It's a pretty neat thing," Dales-Schuman said during a break in the
regional semifinals and finals last weekend.

"I think you get some interesting perspectives for the audience
because you have a current coach and a current player," said Dales-
Schuman, who plays for the WNBA Washington Mystics. "I know I'm
learning a few things from Nell as a coach.

"I have such a passion for basketball, and this has helped me and my
game," said Dales-Schuman, 23, a native of Brockville, Ontario, who
played for the 2000 Canadian Olympic team. "Everyone has been
helpful, and everyone involved is very professional in the way they
go about their work. It's just a great opportunity and learning
experience."

It has been a challenging job for a TV novice, especially because
this is the first year that ESPN and ESPN2 have combined to air all
63 games in the tournament.

In the first two rounds, the studio team had to act as ringmasters,
taking viewers in and out of games across the country.

Dales-Schuman has worked hard on her preparation.

"When I'm not working out in the gym, I've spent all my time on the
computer, because I want to do the best job possible, and I'm not
doing anyone a service if I haven't done my homework and come to the
set prepared," she said. "I also want to get my viewpoints across and
share what I feel. But I don't want to be controversial just for its
own sake.

"I want to talk about as many players and teams as possible, because
I want to give everyone a chance to hear themselves mentioned," she
added. "There's not a lot of TV coverage of women's basketball, and
there are great stories and players who are unknown. There's so much
parity out there."

Apparently, network officials have been pleased with Dales-Schuman's
work to date.

"I know she's turned heads around here," said Josh Krulewitz, a
spokesman for the network. "It's one thing to have a viewpoint. But
in this business, timing and delivery are everything, and she's been
great."

Dales-Schuman recently drew high marks from her former college coach,
Sherri Coale.

"She's every bit as talented behind this thing as she was playing for
us," Coale said, motioning toward a microphone a week ago during the
Mideast Regional in Norman, Okla.

"I think on Selection Sunday, while we cheered when we saw our name
on the board, we cheered even louder when Stacey stuck up for Kansas
State in a discussion with Nell Fortner about the field," Coale added.

"Well, you know, it was a Big Twelve thing," Dales-Schuman said with
a slight giggle about the Wildcats, who compete in the same
conference as the Sooners.

Speaking of Wildcats, Dales-Schuman has been impressed with Villanova
after playing against coach Harry Perretta's squad a year ago and
watching them make their all-time tournament run into last night's
Mideast title game against Tennessee in Knoxville.

"I really like them," Dales-Schuman said. "They're not very athletic,
but they're thinkers. And thinkers win a lot of ball games, which
they've shown they can do, especially this season, beating
Connecticut and some of those other teams in the Big East."

Dales-Schuman knows a thing or two about brain power. She was an
honors student at Oklahoma as a communications major.

Oklahoma had not been much of a force in Division I before Dales-
Schuman arrived in Norman to help Coale turn the Sooners into a
national power.

Since the 2002 Final Four, Dales-Schuman has had quite a hectic
schedule.

"Think about it," she said in quick breaths, listing all the
activities. "We get to the championship. Then a week or so later, I
got married [to fellow Oklahoma student Chris Schuman]. Then I got
drafted [third overall] by the Mystics. Suddenly, I have to move from
life on the Bible Belt to a large Eastern city and one of the
cultural capitals of America.

"Then I got to help the Mystics turn their program around until I
finally hit that rookie wall. But Coach [Marianne] Stanley was great.
She rested me, and then I was ready to get into the playoffs, where
we won the first round and then lost out to New York in the Eastern
championship."

"I'm excited about this season and what we can do," Dales-Schuman
said, adding that she did not know where things stood regarding WNBA
negotiations with the players' union for a new collective bargaining
agreement.

That's a worry for another day. At the moment, Dales-Schuman is
concentrating on wrapping up the network's coverage of the East and
West finals tonight, and then it's on to Atlanta for the Final Four
at the Georgia Dome, Sunday and next Tuesday.