SYRACUSE -ÊIt's easy to forget sometimes that professional athletes exsist outside the courts and fields where they make their livings.

Wawasee legend, University of Tennesse alum and current member of the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars Shanna Zolman is a perfect example.

Zolman, who spent some time at the McDonald's in Syracuse late Monday afternoon signing autographs, is home until October.

And while she has a few speaking arrangements lined up here and there, Zolman isn't home for a series of parades, public appearances and autograph sessions.

Zolman's home to see family and friends. She's also got a wedding to plan.

Zolman will marry Andrew Crossley Oct. 14.

Zolman just completed her rookie year as a member of the Silver Stars and found her time at Tennesse to be invaluable in getting ready for professional play.

"Playing at Tennesse allowed me to make that transition," said Zolman. "Because coach (Summit) demands perfection."

Zolman said the biggest transition from the college game to the WNBA is travel with cross-country flights being the rule rather than the exception.

The state's all-time leading scorer and bride-to-be is currently in Syracuse until the wedding, then will return to San Antonio for her second season with the Silver Stars.

Crossley is still at Tennesse as he pursues dental school.

Zolman isn't sure where her and Crossley will call home yet. It's dependent on where Crossley goes to school.

The two met at Tennesse, where Crossley played football.

Zolman came to Tennesse, perhaps the nation's top women's college basketball program, with a lot of expectations. It was expected by some for Zolman to have the same sort of success she had at Wawasee.

Zolman averaged 11.8 points per game in her four years at Tennesse. She averaged 15.4 points per game in her senior season while hitting 43.3 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Zolman was also 92 percent from the free throw line for her career.

While those numbers were solid enough to get drafted in the second round of the WNBA Draft, they weren't the sort of numbers she put up at Wawasee.

Zolman is Indiana's all-time leading scorer with 3,085 points.

Zolman was the 2002 Miss Basketball and was named to the McDonald's All-American team. She was also named co-MVP in the inagural girls McDonald's All-American Game.

Zolman didn't get caught up in the outrageous expectations set for her, nor does she regret any of her time at Tennesse.

"There's no regrets," said Zolman. "Everything you go through makes you the person you are. I definitely learned a lot. I was at the biggest program in the country and there were a lot of expectations. I learned from that and didn't feel pressure from those expectations."

While Zolman talked about the expectations felt at Tennesse with coach Pat Summit, she first learned about the game and how to approach it from her father and Wawasee coach Kem Zolman.

Shanna is currently helping her father with preseason training for the Warriors. And while she has enjoyed helping the current crop of Wawasee basketball players, people shouldn't expect her to be coaching anytime soon.

"Not really," said Zolman when asked if she's thought about coaching. "I'm just taking everything a day at a time, a year at a time. When I'm done playing I may just stay at home and start a family."

And while Zolman and Crossley are uncertain where they're home will be, Zolman will also consider Syracuse home.

"I always call this home," said Zolman. "The support I had and always will have here is amazing. This community means so much to me." [[In-content Ad]]