By Alexis Morgan, Originally appeared on GoPSUsports.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Nikki Greene: the athlete, the student, the Texas native. Although Nikki is becoming known as a dominant post player on the court for the Lady Lions, there is another side to her that people rarely see.
“Sheniqua Greene is my biological name but I don’t really go by it,” Greene said.
She describes herself as having two separate personalities: Nikki, the basketball player and Sheniqua, the personality type unbeknownst to the public.
“Everyone knows me as Nikki, the basketball player, the student-athlete, the person who goes to Penn State, and the person who graduated from Diboll. Nobody really knows about Sheniqua,” Greene said.
“Sheniqua is just the `off-the-court’ me, the quiet, laid back person. Sheniqua’s the type of person that observes everyone else, sits, and listens. She is that comfortable friend; [she] sits by [herself] drawing and lives life peacefully.”
This laid back sophomore is from the small town of Diboll, located in the western part of Texas. Diboll is only five square miles and has just one high school in the district. When a Division I Lady Lion coach came to watch her play, Greene was intrigued.
“[It was weird] for a coach to come and observe me while I wasn’t even practicing. At the time, I was injured and
they just watched me form shoot,” Greene said.
Although she had never even heard of Penn State, Greene thought the Lady Lion coaches were truly interested in her abilities.
“[I said] I might as well call and thank them for coming,” Greene said.
After speaking to coach Itoro Coleman, a former Lady Lion coach, they developed a personal relationship, calling each other every two weeks.
Coleman called Greene a `potential program changer for Penn State’. But coming to Happy Valley was a tough decision for the shot-blocking threat.
“When you [live] in Texas and [are] an athlete, the majority of people go to [the University of] Texas, or Texas A&M and I was the type of person who was asking which one?” Greene said.
Greene wanted to step out of her comfort zone and explore the different possibilities of pursuing an education elsewhere.
“In order for me to make a difference for myself, not following what everyone else does, I wanted to step out side of Texas and journey somewhere to make myself more diverse about learning.”
Greene’s happy with the opportunities she’s been given.
“It means a lot; it’s definitely a blessing. I never pictured myself being at this university at all. Coming to a big campus like this, I take it all in and try and make the best of it.”
The 1,400 mile distance from home was hard for Greene to handle as she entered her freshman year in 2009.
“I let my personal feelings get involved with my playing sometimes and it makes me feel uncomfortable. [When I talked to Coquese about it], she wanted to make the game easier for me to enjoy. [By] making it easier for me, I was able to get out of my shell and get back to my old self. Talking to Coquese opened up doors for me,” Greene said.
Although Greene won the `Most Improved’ award after last season, Coach Washington knew Greene wasn’t where she needed to be to compete with other Big Ten post players.
“I am looking for [Nikki] to be more of a presence this year,” Washington said at the pre-season press conference. “Nikki is very interesting because her freshman year, it took her an entire year to get comfortable with the speed of the game, the strength of the game, the physical play in the post.
“She is the only player that started every game last year as a freshman and that experience really helped her over the course of the season.”
Greene explained the difference between high school and college basketball.
“I was pretty shaky coming in as a freshman starting and didn’t know really what was going on,” she said.
Sheniqua might be Greene’s shy alter ego, but her counterpart, Nikki, has definitely made a loud impact on the court since her sophomore season began.
So far this season, Greene has totaled 205 rebounds. She is on the single-season block records list for the second consecutive season with 61 rejections and counting. Greene is No. 29 in the nation in blocked shots averaging 2.4 per game.
In the Lady Lion victory over Indiana on January 23, Greene posted 20 rebounds being the first Lady Lion to do so in a single game since 1987.
“This year, I understand the game more and its flow a little better than I expected, and I’m enjoying it,” she said.
Greene is gaining confidence with each possession.
“My season has progressed well. I’m not trying to rush things, I’m trying to go at my pace where I’m comfortable and build on my skills during practice.”
As Greene is finding the rhythm like she had in high school, she still believes she can do better on the offensive side of the ball.
“There’s still the freshman jitters, but I’m gaining confidence,” Greene said.
The 6’4″ forward was recruited to Penn State to play the post position. To help her transition, one of Penn State’s greatest post-players was there to help, coach Maren Walseth.
“At first I wasn’t used to being coached by an individual post player, I’ve never been taught post moves. [Coach Walseth] breaking [it] down, step-by-step, [showing] what a true post does, it made me want to learn more and begin repetition [to help my game],” Greene said.
“[Walseth’s] very intelligent and she knows what she’s talking about. I know I ask questions when I don’t understand. She takes the time to explain to me before and after practice or demonstrate it to me because I’m a visual learner.”
Washington thinks Greene has the potential to be dominant in the paint.
“Dominant in the paint means going after every single rebound, hustling on defense, trying to go at them hard on offense and defense,” Greene said.
Washington recognizes the presence Greene has playing with her teammates.
“We’re a good team when she is not on the floor, but we are a better team when she is on the floor,” Washington said. “I’m just truly enjoying watching her growth as a player.”
Even her teammates have seen the impact she has made this season.
“I see people try to drive into the lane and they’re just closing their eyes because they don’t want to get blocked. I don’t blame them,” said senior Captain Julia Trogele.
Whether you know her as Sheniqua or Nikki, Greene is blossoming into the strong post player the Lady Lions need in their quest for postseason play.
