Jia Perkins was 21, was a homegrown Texan, a star guard on a Texas Tech women's basketball team with NCAA championship aspirations. Then, in an instant, her life changed. She learned early in her senior season that she was pregnant. Scared is probably not a strong enough word.
"It was a mix of emotions," Perkins said. "First, of course, sadness. Not knowing what I was going to do. I had told one teammate. And, of course, the father. But I just didn't know what I was going to do.''
Twelve years removed from that time — from having to walk away from college basketball and perhaps, she thought, a pro career — Perkins can smile.
Perkins, 34, is about to start her 13th WNBA season with the Lynx, her fourth team. Acquired in a draft-day deal with San Antonio, Perkins is a former All-Star who was obtained to provide veteran depth at guard for a Lynx team that wants to repeat as league champion but is determined not to wear out its star players doing it.
Perkins brings a defensive presence, a knack for getting into passing lanes. She brings a threat as a good shooter, both from midrange and behind the three-point line.
And she brings maturity, the kind learned from more than a decade as a single mother. Her daughter, Aalirah, will turn 12 in June. It won't be long before school's out and the Lynx's newest fan will be heading north from Texas to join her mom.
"This could not have worked out better," Perkins said Monday, during a busy Lynx media day. "Without having her, I don't know where I'd be."
College career ends