"It feels like it went by fast, but when you go back and pick out every incident, it felt like it would never end. You think of 'I got that fax and that was realty nice, and then I got this, and I talked to him this time and I went to visit here.' It's just a big jumble."
Saona Chapman

"You wouldn't think something like this would bother you that much. It actually would get into your mind where you couldn't think of anything else. It dominates your mind."
Clark Chapman Saona's father

"It's really nice to say that she's my sister. People know who she is. There's a lot of girls who go to Griswold who played (AAU) basketball with her, and they're like, 'Oh, you're Saona Chapman's brother.' I say, 'Yeah,' and they talk about how she's a great player and they ask about her and which college she's going to go to."
Reynolds Chapman - Saona's brother, Griswold High sophomore

"I think in some ways she was probably sick of talking about it, but in other ways it's good to talk and put everything out there on the table and see where you stand. I just listened and tried to help her get her ideas out, like go through each school and see what they offer, what don't they offer"
Krista Rappahahn - Chapman's NFA teammate and friend

"When she asked me which team I favored, the only one I could really say was Rutgers because it was closer to home. She could come home on a weekend and we could go to any home game. They play Tennessee at Madison Square Garden. So basketball-wise, for selfish reasons it was Rutgers."
Clark Chapman

"She certainly had things very well figured out and analyzed, but to finally make the final decision based on everything that she had figured out, I think was tough for her. I kind of felt bad for her near the end because it was a tough decision and a lot of people wanted to know where she was at."
Gary Makowicki - NFA director of athletics

"Before she committed I asked her, 'What is stopping you from committing, the fact that you've got to tell one of the coaches that you're not going to their school?' She said, 'Well that's one of the reasons.' That was tough."
Tami Chapman - Saona's mother

"I hope she doesn't have to defend herself UConn didn't offer her a scholarship. If somebody says, 'Why don't you go to UConn?' - which is what most people asked her - the response is, 'I was never offered a scholarship.' It's not like she's the bad guy because she chose Rutgers. It's a good program, it's a great coach, it's near home and it's a great university."
Tami Chapman

"I'll bet you any money, if she went to another school across the country, and perhaps a number of schools in the Big East, nobody's going to be talking about Saona Chapman. But I bet her name is on more people's lips because of the decision that she made."
C. Vivian Stringer - Rutgers coach

"Saona's a terrific person. She's a caring person, she cares about other people, she's been good to other people and friendly to other people, which means she gets that in return."
John lovino - NFA director of student affairs

"(Coaching has) always been a dream of mine, growing up with a coach in the house and being a point guard. I think I have a good knowledge of the game. I coach pee wees with (boys coach Neal) Curland on Saturdays and I've coached at camps over the summer and I love it. I think down the line it's a possibility."
Chapman

When school started for Norwich Free Academy senior Saona Chapman, it was almost as if nothing had changed over the previous few months. Two schools were clearly the frontrunners and a third was on the fringe, much like it had been at Nike Camp in mid-July. But the schools were different. Notre Dame and North Carolina State were out, Rutgers was in, Virginia Tech had become the leader and George Washington, an Atlantic-10 team that occasionally cracks the top 25, was a distant third in the running to sign the basketball recruit. With school under way, coaches are allowed to make home visits and players can take all-expenses-paid official visits to as many as five schools. So she had to juggle those, along with classes and cross country practice (she was a captain).
   "She asked me - she didn't tell me - she said, 'I need to do these things, is this OK with you?' " cross country coach Gil LaPointe said. "Some other kids would have said, 'I'm going on these recruiting trips.' And she would always say 'I'm trying to pick them out where I don't think the team really needs me.' You just don't get that."
   At that point, Chapman said she "leaning toward" Virginia Tech, which was about to make its first home visit to Voluntown.
   The last weekend of September, she made her official visit to Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., and on the way home from the airport she told her aunt Shelley Carpenter that she could see herself going there. "Then commit," Carpenter said. But Chapman wanted to make her official visit to Virginia Tech the weekend of Midnight Madness, a pep rally that kicks off the season the minute practices can start. It was a trip she eagerly anticipated. "I asked the coach (Bonnie Henrickson), 'Am I going to be able to meet Michael Vick?' " she said about the school's star quarterback "She's like, 'Meet him, you're going to spend the whole day with him.' I'll make sure I take a picture."

Close, but...

Chapman visited the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., and watched the Hokies beat the west Virginia football team that weekend in mid-October. Henrickson and Co. put on a show for Chapman, treating her like royalty. "Going on these weekends, by the end of the weekend, I'm just like, 'I don't want somebody to do something for me. I'm sick of people doing stuff for me,' "she said, with a smile after the Virginia Tech visit. "They do everything - they carry your bags, or make sure you're fed - it's unbelievable. Every second, 'Do you want a drink, you want to get something to eat?' By the end, I told my parents, I just don't want to be asked if I want anything anymore." But as she pointed out, that was their way of wooing her. And the night she returned from Blacksburg, her stress level almost forced her to make a premature decision. She had decided to cancel her scheduled visit to George Washington and nearly committed to Henrickson on the phone that night. She didn't, though, and when GW called, she said she'd make the trip after all. "It looks like Virginia Tech, but I just don't know," she said that night. "It's so tough. It's getting the most stressful it's been the whole time."

Change of heart

The night after the visit to Virginia Tech, Chapman said she expected to make a decision within a week, and Henrickson expected the same thing. She was surprised when Chapman decided to make the trip to George Washington, and the phone began to ring non-stop, becoming the family's "worst enemy," Chapman said.
   "Coaches have a job to try to get you to their school," said former NFA and current Clemson guard Marci Glenney, whose sister, Lauren, is a close friend of Chapman. "Obviously you can't put any blame (on them). But it's overwhelming when you're 17. I used to try to tell my mom, 'Tell them I'm in the shower.' My mom was like, 'I'm not going to lie for you.' It's a lot to handle, and I can't imagine if I didn't know where I wanted to go."
   And Chapman didn't know. She loved George Washington, the D.C. area and the intensity of the team's practices. Henrickson, fearing she might lose the NFA star, began to sell her school hard, sometimes at the expense of the others. Chapman said she came home from school one day at the end of October and decided, "That's it, I'm going to commit to Virginia Tech tonight." Then she got on the internet and saw that of the three schools recruiting her, the Hokies had received less commitments from players ranked in the Blue Star top 100 than GW and Rutgers. That was strike two; Virginia Tech is the least accomplished program of the three. "I'm leaning toward Rutgers," she said on Nov. 2. "Yesterday it would've been GW, the day before it would've been Virginia Tech. I can't pinpoint why I'm not making a commitment."

Down the stretch

While Chapman's attitude toward many schools ran hot and cold, Rutgers had been a constant since the end of the summer. Its coaches saw her at the nationals in Chattanooga, Tenn., and at Nike Camp in Indianapolis, and they were interested. But Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer said it's not her policy to rush kids into a decision. ''We were on her the whole time," Stringer said. "Saona's the kind of person that's intelligent enough that when you present something to her, you just back off and let her make her own decision. She reminds me a lot of myself in that respect. When people push me and tell me what to do or you've got to make (the decision) by this time, then I'm most likely to go the other way."
   Chapman had planned to sign on Nov. 8, the first day of the early signing period, but she hadn't made up her mind by then. She said there were nights when she would lie in bed awake for hours, trying to arrive at a decision. She looked everywhere for guidance. She would talk to LaPointe, who said he sometimes joked that she should go to Virginia Tech so he could see a new part of the country. She vented to others at NFA, like John Iovino, director of student affairs, and athletic director Gary Makowicki. And of course, her friends and family were constant sounding boards. "I realized how many people care about me," she said.
   "I saw Saona go in circles," said Krista Rappahahn, her NFA teammate and friend. "One day she'd love this school and one day she'd love another one. I don't know if it's like that for everyone. Some people just have a gut reaction and they know, but I don't think it was exactly like that for Saona. The decision's such a big one and it affects you for the rest of your life."
   And if she didn't want to think about it for a few minutes? Not a chance. "Every person I see asks, 'Have you made your decision yet?' " she said. "They think they'll get the little inside scoop." Even when she left the region, there were reminders. On Nov. 11 she was in Vermont for the cross country New England championships, and, after finishing her race, she looked up and was stunned to see Kara McVey, a GW assistant.
    Nov.15 was the final day of the early signing period. Only a small percentage of the top players waited until that day to sign, and it's even more rare to wait until the next signing period, which is in the spring. The night of Nov. 14, her frustration was evident, but so was her fondness for Rutgers. "I'm going to go with my instinct," she said. "I have a lot of trust and faith in Coach Stringer"

Decision day

Chapman woke up the morning of Nov. 15 earlier than normal so she could get to the weight room and work out with assistant football coach Mark Adams, who had her on a strengthening program. After six hours of classes, she was still uncertain. She arrived home that afternoon and spent some time alone. Then her mother, Tami, called from her car phone to say she was running late. And Chapman had to ask.
    "If I ask you right now where I should go, what would you tell me?" Chapman asked.
    "I would tell you GW because you will have a cakewalk there," her mother said.
    She meant that Chapman would have her own dorm room, her league opponents would be mediocre UMass and Rhode Island rather than powerful UConn and Notre Dame, and that she would probably be the centerpiece of the team. But she told Chapman that since Rutgers would provide the greatest challenge, she'd support that decision as well.
   Shortly after Tami arrived home, she went to turn on the news.
    "No," Chapman said, "you're not turning on the TV. You need to help me make a decision."
    "Saona," her mother said, "I can't make the decision for you."
   But her heart had been telling her Rutgers for a couple of weeks. She just had to be prepared to disappoint some people. She would have to call George Washington and Virginia Tech and tell them that despite their months of recruiting efforts, she had chosen Rutgers. So that's what she did. First she phoned Rutgers and was greeted by an ecstatic Stringer. Then she faxed her national letter of intent and called McVey at GW and Henrickson at Virginia Tech. The conversations were short and to the point, void of uncomfortable questions. Then she informed members of her family and finally collapsed onto the couch. It was over.

Big Opportunity

"I've kind of seen it coming ever since she was in eighth grade," said Chapman's brother, Reynolds, a sophomore at Griswold High. "She's always loved basketball and she's always talked about wanting to play in college. That's been her big dream." That dream will be realized next fall when she enrolls at Rutgers with five other freshman women's basketball recruits. One of those is the highly touted Cappie Pondexter of Chicago. She plays point guard in high school, and Stringer often assured Chapman that Pondexter will be a shooting guard at Rutgers. "Cappie's going to play the two guard," Stringer said. "Let me make this real clear: (Saona) will not come here to sit on the bench." It is that honesty that drew Chapman to Stringer. While N.C. State, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech were trying to get Chapman to sign with them as soon as possible, Stringer and assistant Betsy Yonkman, who made the home visit to Voluntown, just waited and let their school do the talking. And Chapman trusted them. "Everywhere we went and talked to people, we asked about Stringer," said Chapman's father, Clark. "Everyone said she was totally honest. That's what we heard from everybody who had been associated with her. It was nice knowing that everything she was saying to us was truthful." Chapman has talked about becoming a coach herself, and now she'll have the opportunity to learn from one of the game's best. Last year Stringer became the first coach in college basketball history to lead three schools to the Final Four. Stringer, who says she is choosy about her point guards, is tough on her players; she says she tries to "break them" before or during practice so she can tell what they're made of before they play in front of 10,000-plus fans. But as LaPointe said, no one is tougher on Chapman than herself.

The enemy

Chapman knows that she did not make the popular decision by opting for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights more closely resemble street fighters than polished prize fighters, which is the opposite of local favorite UConn. Their outward aggression is often considered -- right or wrong -- cocky. Chapman plays with her emotions in check and without a hint of arrogance. The quick translation: bad fit. "We researched it so much and spent so much time with them, asking millions of questions," Chapman said. "I think I know that program inside and out, as well as the other programs I was looking at. I was never going to base my decision on what other people said, but toward the end it was much easier to put everyone else out of my mind and just go with what I wanted."
   So why is Rutgers viewed so negatively in Connecticut? "I have a lot of ideas, but at the risk of creating any kind of issues whatsoever, I'll defer my opinions," Stringer said. "But I will say that I admire the heck out of her. Regardless of what anybody in Connecticut thinks, I think everybody in Connecticut has to respect that Rutgers, in a very short period of time, is a major player at this level. Why would anybody begrudge her the opportunity to play excellent basketball? "She was able to read through what people will repeat but won't bother to learn for themselves. Maybe if people know that she's not crazy, and she's a pretty settled, intelligent young woman, they'll know that maybe the Rutgers team is just a very competitive team, but none of the other things that everybody talks about."

Next chapter

Glenney, the former NFA star, had known all along that she was going to choose UConn, and she was still considerably stressed before committing near the end of the summer. Now consider what Chapman endured. UConn would have been the easy choice, but it never offered her a scholarship. Her initial top two choices were gone by the end of the summer, and from the start of school to Nov. 15, she battled with a decision involving three quality universities. When most students choose their college, they have all winter and much of the spring to decide. And they don't have a representative of each school under consideration calling once a week often pointing out drawbacks to the others.
   "God bless her. She went through the whole process and she handled it well," said Knapp, her AAU coach. "I think one of the problems that Saona had is that she has such an engaging personality and she's such an adaptable kid, so she wasn't able to rule things out as easily as some kids. Saona is one of those kids who could enjoy a lot of different things."
   The past eight months have been a time of enormous pressure for Saona Chapman, and that will be surpassed by her upcoming stint on the Rutgers basketball team. She can't wait.
   "It's been difficult, but honestly, it's not life or death," she said. "This is for a college scholarship for four years. "...I'm happy with my decision and right now I'm excited about our class at Rutgers. I've been thinking about that, but I just want to take some time off, thinking-wise."