Enumclaw's Nater Grew Up With Game

VALERIE NATER, at 6 feet 4, provides the biggest defensive roadblock opponents of the Hornets must contend with. She is known for her blocks, an average of four per game; her father was known for his NBA rebounds.

ENUMCLAW - Daddy's little girl isn't so little. But then, neither is daddy.

At 6 feet, 4 inches, Enumclaw senior Valerie Nater might be the tallest girl in this week's Class AAA state girls basketball tournament. She certainly is the biggest defensive roadblock opponents of the fifth-ranked Hornets (23-1) must contend with.

Nater, who averages four blocked shots per game, swatted eight Auburn tries in the championship game of the West Central AAA District tournament Saturday night.

Her father, 6-11 Swen Nater, is best remembered for leading the NBA in rebounding in 1979-80 when he averaged 15 per game for the San Diego Clippers. Valerie and her older sister, Alicia, grew up with the game.

Their mother, Marlene, remembers Magic Johnson, a teammate of Swen's with the Lakers, holding the two little girls. John Wooden is like a granddad, and Swen credits the offense he designed for Enumclaw this season to Wooden, his college coach at UCLA.

The father never pressured either of his daughters to follow in his footsteps, but both did.

"I worshiped my dad," Valerie said. "Because he played basketball, I wanted to play basketball."

Alicia, two years older and two inches shorter than Valerie, went on to earn a full-ride scholarship to UC-Santa Barbara before tearing up her knee. She intends to play at Highline Community College next season, and Valerie is thinking about joining her.

Their father and mother had encouraged both girls to try a variety of sports and activities, from ballet to soccer to piano, as they grew up in El Cajon, Calif., near San Diego, where Swen was a teacher and men's basketball coach at Christian Heritage College.

Valerie and Alicia attended Christian School, which had an enrollment of only 250 students in grades 9 through 12. Alicia was a senior and Valerie a sophomore when Christian won the state title among California's smallest schools.

Then Swen decided to change careers, and Valerie campaigned for a move to the Enumclaw area, where her aunt (Marlene's sister) and uncle and cousins live.

Swen became community relations director for PriceCostco, headquartered in Issaquah, and Valerie became an instant legend in the basketball-crazed community of Enumclaw before she even arrived in town.

"Rumors were going around that I was 6-7 and I was this all-star player," Valerie said. "I'm like, no, that's not how it was."

It wasn't easy trying to live up to those tall expectations. Somewhat shy, Valerie never totally fit into last year's team, which went 1-2 at state after Enumclaw jumped from Class AA to AAA.

She was a role player off the bench and averaged less than four points a game - a big adjustment after starting on a state championship team the year before in California.

"I was very frustrated," she said. "I didn't feel I played up to my ability. I was really disappointed about my junior year."

Since then, she has made more friends and become a large part of the team that went 19-0 before losing to No. 6 Federal Way in the final regular-season game of the season.

Nater averages nearly nine points and six rebounds, and at times takes over games; she tossed in 10 points in the second quarter to spark a district victory over South Kitsap.

"She gives her best when her best is needed," her father said.