She was unique.
That much, Kansas State women's basketball coach Deb Patterson knew in the summer of 1996 when she first saw the skinny 6-foot-1 eighth grader from Clay Center.
It was during her annual K-State summer camp that a skinny girl named Nicole Ohlde ran a basketball up and down the court and swarmed for rebounds, catching Patterson's eye.
That day, it was as if Patterson could already envision Ohlde in a purple and white uniform.
"You knew there was something really special and unique about her," Patterson said during a recent interview. "She was dribbling the ball up the floor after rebounds, and then passing it, and the next thing you knew she was at the rim finishing the shot. You knew there was something really feisty and special about her."
But what she couldn't foresee that summer, was just how much an impact the unassuming girl from Clay Center would have on her program for years to come.
Ohlde didn't either.
"I just remember it was a blast because I love to play basketball," Ohlde recalled of the camp. "Back then I had so much energy I was just running around anyway. I don't really remember necessarily doing anything that stood out, but I'm sure Coach
Patterson saw something."
Ohlde put on her first Wildcat uniform in 2000, and quickly those instinctive reactions Patterson saw in her prized recruit became reality. In just her second collegiate game, Ohlde scored 36 points and pulled down 19 rebounds against Wyoming at the Oregon State Beaver Classic.
It was the beginning of a career that eventually led Ohlde to a pair of All-America selections and an eventual first round draft selection by the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx of in 2004. She was the third Wildcat to be drafted into the league in the Patterson era.
Ohlde is still second in KSU history in both scoring and rebounds with 2,241 points and 995 rebounds, respectively.
"The day that Nicole was drafted, it is without question one of the happiest days in my career," Patterson said.
On that day, her teammates, parents and Patterson surrounded Ohlde as they watched her name appear as a first-round pick.
"It was a very exciting day," said Ohlde, who was also a two-time Big 12 Player of the Year. "It was something that I never really could have dreamed of. It was just an amazing feeling to know that hard work had paid off. I was starting a new journey in my life, and it was a very exciting time in my life."
The draft was a step in her life that once again proved Patterson's hunch when she first saw Ohlde, was indeed true.
Quickly, Ohlde carried her college career successes on to Minnesota. Now, seven years later, Ohlde is a member of the Phoenix Mercury after being traded.
While she has been in the league for a while, the highlight of Ohlde's professional career came just last season when she helped the Mercury to their second WNBA title in the team's 13-year history. She helped the team defeat the Indiana Fever in a best-of-five championship series.
"It was definitely a dream come true," Ohlde said. "Just to have the opportunity to be a part of something like that, and the excitement and joy after putting in the hard work, to achieve something like that, it was just ecstatic. My parents were there, a lot of my best friends were involved in that, and coming back this year for the ring ceremony was very exciting."
Now, Ohlde is entering her seventh year in the WNBA, looking to battle off a slight hamstring injury suffered prior to the season starting.
The 6-foot-5 center said she is feeling better as the season progresses, and hopes that her minutes and production will begin to reflect that. Through five games this season with the Mercury, Ohlde is averaging 10.2 minutes, down significantly from her seven-year career average of 24.3.
"I am trying to work through that," she said. "Hopefully with getting in the flow and rhythm of playing, I will pick my minutes back up. I think it is crazy how quickly you get out of game shape and out of the rhythm of things.
"The first game was definitely shaky, and hopefully after a few more games I get some minutes, and hopefully I will feel better about myself and be able to contribute a little more."
The injury came following Ohlde's sixth season of playing basketball in Europe during the WNBA offseason. Last year, she competed on Hungary's women's squad.
During her professional career, Ohlde has played basketball in several countries, including teams in Belgium, Spain, France and last year's season with Hungary.
Ohlde says she has become comfortable with the European basketball league.
"My first year was quite a challenge," she said. "I didn't know if I was going to go back again. Every year after that, it has been great and it's just something that I know I'm going to do. It's something that just kind of comes second nature to me now."
But the grind of playing year-round basketball caught up with her as they began the 2010 season with the Phoenix Mercury this summer.
"I'm definitely not 100 percent," she said last week. "I don't think anybody's 100 percent in this league."
With the hamstring injury and in the last year of her contract, this season will answer many questions about her pro career and life beyond it.
Currently, she plans to complete this WNBA season and go to Europe again in the off-season. During that process she hopes to reach another contract agreement with a WNBA squad and return for an eighth season.
As for her life after basketball, that is something she has yet to completely figure out.
"That's something I have been thinking about a little bit," Ohlde said. "I guess I am going to have to make a decision at some point down the road. I have always thought about coaching and being some type of personal trainer, or doing something with kids.
"I think I have options, I just need to figure out what exactly I want to do."
While she said those plans are something she likes to keep private, Ohlde said she may eventually consult with Coach Patterson about where her next step may take her.
"I haven't really discussed it with a lot of people," Ohlde said. "I'm trying to hold off as long as I can. Maybe down the road I can talk to her (Patterson) or with other people about it. But right now, I have been thinking about it mostly to myself."
Regardless of what happens, the story of Nicole Ohlde is something that still puts a smile on Patterson's face. The 15th-year KSU coach said she continues to use Ohlde as an example of what her program strives to build in its players.
"It is just such a tremendous story," Patterson said. "She was the epitome of a great student-athlete and carries herself with such class and dignity. She is someone who you can point to as an example of the things that are possible if you do choose to build your career here at Kansas State University. There's nothing like a walking, talking example and role model. That's what Nicole is."
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