The Nevada Sagebrush

Former Nevada guard Dellena Criner, left, and current Wolf Pack women’s basketball head coach Jane Albright forged a close relationship after Albright became the team’s head coach at the beginning of the 2008 season — Criner’s senior year. File Photo/Nevada Sagebrush

Dellena Criner knows how tough it is to grow up on the streets of Oakland.

Riots, street-corner drug deals and blaring sirens were everyday occurrences for the former Nevada basketball star.

Those dangers, coupled with Criner’s journey from home to home after her mother moved to southern California and her father grew addicted to drugs, left Criner fearful for her life.

Criner moved back to Oakland after she graduated last summer and found herself back on the streets and in a homeless shelter.

Distraught and without a place to go, Criner found comfort in her former Nevada coach who welcomed Criner into her home and helped transform her life one more time.

THE EARLY JOURNEY

Criner didn’t start playing basketball until she was in eighth grade. In fact, the girl who was more interested in cars, motorcycles and karate started the sport purely by accident.

Her best friend didn’t want to try out for the junior high school team by herself, so she convinced Criner to join, too.

It turned out to be one of the best decisions of Criner’s life.

Her tenacity on the court was visible well before she became Nevada’s all-time steals leader.

Her coaches told her early on that she had the skill to play in college, a confirmation that worked like a spark to Criner’s engine.

She eventually transferred to Fremont High School in San Jose, Calif., a specialty school that better displayed her on-court talents.

But tragedy struck when Criner’s grandmother became sick. Criner’s mother, Carol LeBlanc, moved to Perris, Calif., a town about 70 miles east of Los Angeles, to be with her mother before she died. Criner stayed in Oakland because of connections she had made while playing on the court.

Criner as a senior at Nevada. File photo/Nevada Sagebrush

“It was the toughest parenting decision of my life,” said LeBlanc, who remained in Perris to honor her mother’s dying wish, which was to watch over her sister.

Back in Oakland, Criner’s relationship with her father quickly deteriorated because of his drug use. Although she didn’t have a consistent place to live, Criner didn’t second-guess her decision to stay in Oakland. She commuted two hours each day on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) just to get to school. Sometimes she took the BART late at night because of a practice that ran too long.

Criner moved from home to home to survive. Management skills were one of her most important assets, LeBlanc said.

“When she was younger, I would always have each of my children take turns buying food for that month,” said LeBlanc, who has maintained a relationship with her daughter by phone. “My other children would buy whatever they wanted and didn’t manage the amount I was providing for them. But Dellena took her time. She got everything she wanted with money to spare. We would have more food when I had her pick and we had more money.”

Criner eventually settled in with one of her mother’s friends in the 10th grade. She had a place to stay and a car.

Things were coming together for No. 22, a number she strategically wore during basketball games in high school and college.

“I chose to wear the number 22 because I told myself at the age of 22 I will have done something that no one in my family has done and that is graduated from college with a degree in four years on a scholarship and no debt,” Criner said.

Criner led the Oakland Athletic League in scoring and was named first-team all conference and All-East Bay in high school.

Her success on the court eventually caught the eye of then-Nevada women’s basketball coach Kim Gervasoni.

“She didn’t commit right away,” Gervasoni told The Nevada Sagebrush in 2008.  “It took a lot of e-mails. We were the first school to go after her. We went after her more than any other school.”

Criner helped transform a team with an 8-22 record the season before she arrived in 2005 to an 18-win success in 2008.

Criner went on to score 1,629 points, fourth-most in school history, and reached a school record 271 steals during one of the most successful stretches in Nevada women’s basketball history.

She also succeeded academically, graduating in four years with a degree in accounting. But after graduation she eventually found herself in a familiar position — distraught without a job or a place to go.

FORGING A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

Months after Criner graduated last year, current Nevada women’s basketball head coach Jane Albright knew something was wrong after having lunch with Criner last fall.

Criner had moved back to Oakland after spending four months living off-and-on with former teammate Marianne Lombardi and Nevada football quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Employers hesitated to hire Criner because her dream to play professional basketball overseas was still intact.

“You could see that she didn’t have any place to go,” Albright said of her lunch with Criner. “She was distraught. She didn’t know what to do. That’s when I said, ‘We’re your family and I’ll take care of you.’”

Albright invited Criner into her home even though they’d only known each other for little more than a year.

The two  had first met in 2008 when the then-senior introduced herself by bluntly asking, “Is it true you were fired from your last job?”

It was an unconventional introduction, but Criner was the team’s leader. It was a question that needed to be asked, at least eventually.

Albright didn’t withhold information. The once-successful coach at Wisconsin and Northern Illinois experienced an unsuccessful run at Wichita State and was fired.

Albright was eager to start anew with a team shocked by the resignation of Gervasoni earlier that summer.

But if Albright was to win over a squad with four senior starters, she was going to have to win over Criner first and foremost.

“She was always the kid who wanted to win more than anybody else,” Albright said of Criner. “But she said, ‘I’m not sure about that lady.’ Eventually, she did give me a chance.”

After pulling off the biggest upset in program history by beating No. 7 Louisville 85-82 on Nov. 29, 2008, Albright knew she had won her team’s trust.

Nevada marched through the Western Athletic Conference season before losing to Fresno State in the conference tournament championship game.

While Criner only played one year under Albright, a relationship was forged and it would soon blossom into so much more after they moved in together. But just like their initial trust on the court, it didn’t happen immediately.

“She didn’t talk much,” Albright said of Criner when she first moved in. “I remember the (first) meal I served her, I don’t think she spoke the whole meal. Had a home-cooked meal and she didn’t really say much. I just wanted to help her but I think it was hard for her to process that her life wasn’t going the way she thought it would.”

Albright stayed proactive with Criner. She planned every day with early-morning hikes at sunrise, bible studies in the evening, church every Sunday and three-course meals for every dinner. Albright and Criner even volunteered every Thursday night feeding homeless people on Washington Street.

“We spent a lot of quality time together,” Criner said of her two months with Albright. “Getting to know each other more. She showed me parts of Reno that I never knew existed and just gave me peace during my time of distraught.”

All the while, Criner was gaining interest from agents, but controversy over a contract jeopardized her dream yet again.

FULFILLING THE DREAM

Criner’s morale improved while living with Albright, but her dream of playing professional basketball was going nowhere.

She was neglected by her first agent and lied to by her second agent, who said she had a contract in Europe without any concrete proof, Albright said. One team was cut from the WNBA last year, along with two roster spots per team, which meant fewer opportunities to play professionally in America.

But Criner’s luck changed when Utah State women’s basketball coach Raegan Pebley, a coach who had seen Criner play in the WAC, tipped off women’s basketball agent Jeanne McNulty-King.

Pebley then told Criner to give McNulty-King a call, McNulty-King said.

Criner’s hopes weren’t initially high because of her unsuccessful past relationships with agents.

“Unfortunately this is a business that’s very sad, very cutthroat,” McNulty-King said. “I have partners overseas so I was able to help out, but some people don’t have the same connections.”

McNulty-King put Criner’s basketball videos on her Web site to advertise the guard’s talents. Within weeks, a European team from the Polska Liga Koszykóki Kobiet (PLKK), a women’s basketball league in Poland, contacted McNulty-King in November seeking a high-scoring guard. McNulty-King suggested Criner.

Criner flew out to Warsaw, Poland in late November to play for PTS Lider, a Division I team in the PLKK.

Criner said the team has improved since she joined, but mentioned Poland’s food selection and weather are troubling her more than any zone defense ever has.

“It has been snowing, literally no joke, nonstop since I have been here,” Criner said in an e-mail from Poland. “The food is very distinctive. I usually just stick to cereal, chicken nuggets, chicken, and potatoes.”

Aside from the country’s melancholy atmosphere, Criner is happy to be in Poland — not because she’s reached her goals, but because she’s still progressing.

The girl who accidentally started playing basketball because her friend made her join the team, is now playing professionally overseas. Her perseverance, dedication and family — blood relations and people she’s met along the way — have kept that dream alive, and Criner isn’t going to wake up as long as there’s still a chance of playing professionally in America.

Emerson Marcus can be reached at emarcus@nevadasagebrush.com.

Related Posts:

• Video: Nevada’s women fall to Fresno State for WAC champ title
• WAC TOURNAMENT: Nevada falls in championship game against defending-champ Fresno State
• WAC TOURNAMENT: Nevada women headed to WAC championship game after overtime win
• Pack off to best start yet
• Pack wins shocker, stuns No. 7 Louisville