Dodds’ world (Photo By John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)
Janielle Dodds, the 6-foot-3-inch sophomore post for SMU’s women’s basketball team, is the spark the Mustangs have been searching for. Dodds, an All-American candidate, recently received Conference USA’s player of the week award, and she is SMU’s leading scorer and rebounder.
That she is great on and off the court is no surprise to friends, teammates and coaches.
“She’s a great offensive player and is getting better on defense,” head coach Rhonda Rompola said. “Right now she’s working on having better footwork. But, overall, she makes everybody better.”
Dodds is a beast on the court, but off it, she is a normal, friendly and down-to-earth college student, say friends and teammates.”Janielle is very fun and outgoing person,” Jenny Baum, a close friend, said. “There’s never a dull moment with her. She’s really just a normal girl off the court.”
Growing up in Fairfax, Va.
Before basketball became important to Dodds, she played tennis and was ranked nationally until the age of 14. Her father and coach, Blair Dodds, was not only strict in the household but on the tennis court, as well.
She said he would take her out to practice at dawn for two hours and then bring her back again the same evening for another session.
“My dad was very hard on me growing up, and I thank him every day for it,” Dodds said. “I hardly ever got to play with friends. I either went to practice or was at home doing yard work with him.”
As Dodds entered her sophomore year at West Springfield High School in Fairfax, basketball slowly became her passion. She hoped to receive a college scholarship like her older sisters, who went to Vanderbilt and Samford.
Dodds continued to excel on the court and began to receive interest from collegiate programs her junior year.
She became a four-year letter winner, led her team to a 55-5 record and was named Virginia State Player of the Year. Dodds said she does not regret giving up tennis and has fallen in love with basketball.
“My parents really wanted me to play both,” she said. “One day I just told them I didn’t want to play anymore, because I couldn’t play both. I think they are happy with my decision now.”
Next stop: SMU
Dodds received dozens of scholarship offers from colleges, including Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Pepperdine. Because her parents value education, Dodds chose a school based on its academics rather than its athletics.
“After all the debating, I chose to attend SMU because of its academic reputation,” Dodds said. “I also liked the area, the team and coaches. I think it’s been a perfect fit for me.”
After visiting the SMU campus, she signed a letter of intent, enrolled in 2003 and received a redshirt. The next season she started 28 games and was the team’s top scorer and rebounder. After 11 double-doubles, she became the school’s record holder for points and rebounds in a single season.
Despite Dodds also being named a Kodak/WBCA All-American, the team saw its season come to an abrupt end when it lost to Southwest Missouri State in first-round action of the WNIT last year.
“That game, we did not play as well as we had been all year,” Dodds said, who played with seven stitches in her foot that game. “They were a really good team and shot the ball very well. They were just the better team that night.”
A Revamped 2006 Mustangs
Despite a 78-67 loss to top-ranked Tulsa Sunday night, the Mustangs are on the verge of having one of the best seasons in SMU’s history. With a 13-11 (8-4 C-USA) overall record, the team remains in second place behind the Golden Hurricanes. The Mustangs have four remaining conference games before tournament play, which will be held at Moody Coliseum.
The Mustangs will be in Houston for games against Rice and Houston this weekend. The team can expect to go deep in post-season play if the senior leadership continues and Dodds keeps her 16 points and eight rebounds per game average.
“She’s our leading scorer and rebounder. She always ends up with the ball,” senior guard Kendall Shead said. “Janielle brings a lot of inside game to our team. And that is definitely going to help us get to where we want to go.”
