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T&T
Gillian Goring of the Washington Mystics pose with her #7
jersey at the 2007 draft.
BY
KEITH CLEMENT
Assistant Sports Editor
IT’S no surprise that Trinidad and Tobago’s woman
basketball star Gillian Goring got drafted by the Washington
Mystics on April 4, 2007.
After two impressive seasons with North Carolina State University
in one of the best conferences in the college basketball the
ACC, Goring was selected in the Third round as the 32nd pick
overall by the Washington Mystics.
It was a historic feat for the 23-year-old after she proved
impressive at the 2007 WNBA Draft camp presented by Adidas
in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, a few days prior to the draft.
Just two weeks earlier, the native of Morvant, East Trinidad,
helped NC State to the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA basketball
tournament in March.
Goring, a six-seven centre joins compatriot Pietra Gay, a
point-guard, as the second player for Trinidad and Tobago
to take her game to the top women’s pro-league in the
world — the WNBA.
Gay, who lives in New York was the first T&T player to
play in the WNBA after graduating from LSU in 1997.
Gay, the current Trinidad and Tobago national senior team
captain played for Houston Comets, the 1997 WNBA champions.
Now its Goring turn to not just do well for her team but fly
the national ‘red, white and black’ national colours
of Trinidad and Tobago.
When you're 6-7, it's hard to escape notice, even if you're
a female basketball player. But Goring has the game to back
up the attention she's received since she moved to the United
States in 2000.
Goring grew up competing against boys because she was to powerful
for the girls for age 13.
At age 14 she made the T&T national team for the first
Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Junior Basketball
Championship in Jamaica.
She was the tallest player in the tournament at six-four.
Goring, who also played for T&T senior nationa team, served
as a junior ambassador for her country following her appointment
by the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) for the
Olympic Movement.
The honour gave her the opportunity to tour Great Britain,
Scotland, and the USA. “I had to stand before these audiences
that included presidents and prime ministers and talk about
my country,” she said on her visit in 1999. I was scared
to death.”
Goring's height runs in her family — her mother is 6-3
and her dad is 7-0 — so it's possible that she's still
growing. But she's not worrying about her height, as she's
more focused on improving her game.
Since coming to the U.S. she's worked hard to develop her
rebounding, passing, and ball-handling skills to complement
her obvious shot-blocking abilities.
In her second (junior) season at Germantown Academy in Fort
Washington, Pa., Goring averaged 16 points, 11 rebounds, and
3.6 blocks per game while leading the team to a 25-2 record.
She also attended the Nike All-American Camp during her first
two years in the U.S.
After West High School in Waterloo, Iowa, Germantown Academy
Goring had offers from a few of the many colleges that are
pursuing her, including Connecticut, Tennessee, Rutgers, Iowa,
Notre Dame and Penn State. Connecticut was her first choice.
However, after being ‘Red shirted’ in 2004 she was
transferred from the University of Arkansas (Fort Smith) after
her sophomore season to NC State University under the watchful
eyes of coach Kay Yow for two seasons.
In the 2005-06 season Goring played 23 games for 197 minutes
and scored 106 points, made 31 blocks and grabbed 66 rebounds.
In her final season 2006-07, her game performance almost double
when she played 29 games for 587 minutes, grabbed 184 rebounds,
made 39 blocks and scored 294 points as she sport the #55
shirt.
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