Feb. 1, 2000

By Jay Reddick

Gold Rush Front Page

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Val Klopfer has spent this season learning to be the engine that makes the women's basketball team go, but her experience in moving vehicles hasn't always been the best.

When Klopfer was a three-year-old growing up in Albany, N.Y., she once climbed out of her carseat and sent her father's car rolling backward down a driveway, hitting a parked car on the other side of the road.

"I didn't know what a car was all about," Klopfer said. "My dad had stopped to drop off a card at my grandmother's house, and I was a little sneaky. I got out of my carseat, locked the doors, put the car in reverse and rolled it down the hill. Luckily, there was a car there to stop us. When my mom called the insurance company ,and they asked her the age of the driver, she had to say, `Three.'"

Lucky for the Deacons, she's gotten a little better at driving over the years. As the starting point guard, she has had to learn to run an offense over the past two seasons.

She got a good bit of teaching last year from Heidi Coleman, the starter who has now graduated, and she even got some on-the-court training. But this season, the ball and the team are hers, and she's had to deal with whatever may come.

"I still have a lot to learn and more leadership to take on, but I think like the team, I'm moving in the right direction, and I hope to take more on as the year goes on," Klopfer said.

The 5-foot-4 guard has averaged 4.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists a game this season. Klopfer has known basketball almost as long as she's known a gearshift. Her father played three sports in high school, including basketball and started her with a Nerf ball and hoop at a very early age.

"My parents tell me I loved to play Nerf hoop from when I first got it," Klopfer said. "My dad used to take me to games and stuff."

By fourth grade, Klopfer was playing the real thing for a school team. By sixth grade, she had joined an AAU program. And after her seventh grade year, she knew that basketball might help her go far.

"Seeing the competition across the country and realizing what was out there, I realized between seventh and eighth grade what was happening and started to dedicate myself fully to the sport," Klopfer said.

The hard work paid off. After winning four conference titles and one state championship for Bishop Maginn High School and earning honorable mention for several All-America teams, Klopfer landed at Wake Forest. She played in 26 of 28 games last season, averaging 3.5 points and 1.1 assists a game, but mostly watching and learning.

"Last year, I had a lot of opportunities," Coleman said. "Heidi was great for me last year, because she taught me a lot, going against her in practice. She kind of led me. Coach Curtis gave me a lot of opportunities as well, and that's kind of helped me, helped my confidence."

Klopfer struggled early on with her own offensive game, finding the shot that allowed her to hit 38 percent of her 3-point attempts a year ago. But she hasn't let that get in her way.

What she's called on to do most often is to simply be "the rock" who can bring her teammates back into the game when things get rough. That, she says, was never her strong suit, but she's learning to deal.

"The most difficult thing for me is the leadership, especially vocally, because I'm not really a vocal leader," Klopfer said. "Coach expects more of me in that position. Heidi did all of that last year, so we need someone like that. I accept that challenge, but I do have a lot to learn."

Klopfer's role has become even more important as the Deacs have struggled to find a consistent scorer. She is expected to deliver the ball in positions to score, and to keep doing it if one teammate or another is on fire.

"Consistency is one of the biggest things for us this season," Klopfer said. "We haven't found someone to step up and take that big scoring role. Hopefully we'll find that niche and fit into our roles."

Klopfer knows she has two more years of this to come. After that, the psychology major would like to go into teaching, and Bishop Maginn may be getting one of its own back soon.

"I definitely want to teach, but I've thought about coaching, too," Klopfer said. "Maybe at my former high school, somewhere down the line. That would be nice."