Bruin stands tall in role as point guard
Former walk-on brings heart, workhorse mentality to UCLA squad
NICOLE MILLER/ Daily Bruin Natalie Nakase is in her third year in the women's basketball program. She is currently the starting point guard for the Bruins.
By Mayar Zokaei
Daily Bruin Contributor
Chances are, UCLA women’s basketball player Natalie Nakase was referred to by several monikers during high school.
Shrimp. Tiny. Short Stuff. Starting guard.
For the first two years of college, however, the fourth attribution served only as a figment of the walk-on’s past. That is, until fate brushed its mystic hand and Nakase, all five feet, two inches of her, was thrust into the starting lineup for the preseason No. 19 team in the nation.
It is a role she doesn’t plan on relinquishing anytime soon.
“She’s done a real good job at taking a leadership role,” UCLA women’s basketball coach Kathy Olivier said. “She’s learned a lot from sitting on the bench. She does some real positive things out there for us.”
The way Nakase acquired her role wasn’t exactly a changing of the guards. It was more like exodus of the back court.
Erica Gomez, last year’s point guard, graduated.
Nicole Kaczmarski, the freshman phenom who alternated between both guard spots last season, is taking the quarter off.
And LaCresha Flannigan is academically ineligible.
All that was left was Nakase, Michelle Greco, Jalina Bradley and a lot of learning.
Greco had the most experience, and Nakase had the most heart.
“What she lacks in size she makes up for in heart,” Olivier said. “She’s just a workhorse.”
Good friend Greco agrees.
Even though she’s (5-foot-2), she doesn’t play like (5-foot-2),” Greco said. “She plays like size doesn’t matter.”
Few shorter players would list someone tall as their favorite player, but Nakase isn’t exactly your conventional small guard. The diminutive guard ironically lists Magic Johnson, the tallest true point guard in the history of the NBA, as her favorite player.
But not her idol.
“I might idolize a person’s skills, but I don’t idolize them,” Nakase said. “If I don’t know them (personally), I can’t really idolize them.”
Nakase’s play during her time at Marina High in Huntington Beach earned her four letters, numerous all-league and all-state selections, a CIF championship, two league titles and several school records.
In basketball parlance, she had game.
Unfortunately, most major colleges, including UCLA, overlooked her skills and accomplishments, and considered only one measurement of her game – her height.
“She actually kind of recruited us,” Olivier said. “UCLA was the place she wanted to be, and I told her she could come to our team as a walk-on. Now she’s become a scholarship athlete.”
It wasn’t as if Nakase was totally snubbed. Cal State universities wouldn’t leave her alone, and after her banner year in 1998, UC Irvine became a suitor as well. But Nakase knew where she wanted to be.
“It’s always been my dream to play here,” Nakase said. “A lot of people don’t believe me. They say, ‘You must do gymnastics.’
“They really don’t believe me, I guess, because of my height. I tell them to come to our games and watch.”
What others would consider a deficiency, Nakase considers a blessing. In fact, she relishes the fact that she’s short.
“I am able to use my quickness, and it was an advantage in high school,” she said. “In college, I’ve noticed the taller (guards) are easier to get by because they’re slower.
“Tall people are just slow.”
Nakase, a psychology major, hopes to parlay her experience as a point guard, essentially a coach on the floor, into a future as a coach. But she wants to enjoy her time as a Bruin first.
“I love the sport and I love to win. The sport is very physical and being my height and going against the standards really motivates me.
“Size just doesn’t matter.”
With contributions by Scott Schultz, Daily Bruin Contributor.
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