The Adams and Alvarez bond
What a vintage year 2011 was for College Sport Wellington - it turned up basketballer Steven Adams and golfer Julianne Alvarez, who have soared to the top in the United States.
In 2011 both won big at the Wellington College Sports awards – Adams sportsman of the year, with Alvarez sportswoman.
Now Adams, 22, is leaping and bounding toward the NBA basketball finals.
And yet Alvarez has beaten him to the pinnacle, as yesterday she and Aucklander Wenyung Keh helped the University of Washington Huskies lift the US premier university team title over Stanford University.
At the time of the 2011 awards, Wellington journalist Tim Barton offered the insightful statement ‘‘school stardom now, international stardom on the horizon’’.
Adams, a seven-foot (213cm) year 13 pupil at Scots College, had made a huge impression at the Adidas National camp in Los Angeles and had some observers predicting he could be a top-five pick on the 2013 NBA draft (he was eventually selected 12th).
He had just been voted NBL rookie of the year after a debut season with championshipwinning Wellington Saints.
Now his Oklahoma City Thunder are one win away from the NBA finals, after a Western Conference series which has them 3-1 up over the reigning champions, the Golden State Warriors.
In 2011 Alvarez, then 15, had already represented New Zealand and was the No 1 women’s golfer in Wellington.
Yesterday she showed nerves of steel to seal victory for Washington in a gripping deciding match, her brilliant chip on the second hole of sudden death setting up a win that saw her crowned a US champion in her first year at college.
Alvarez was four times Wellington college sportswoman of the year. She went unbeaten through the crucial matchplay event in the US.
Today, Adams gets his chance to help Oklahoma into the NBA finals. Adams’ fame spreads