Alums Tear Up France, France, WNBA

Refreshed, revved and ready, all is right for hoops matriarch Kathy Delaney-Smith.

She talks with the relaxed air of an underdog. Calm and poised, the Ivy League’s winningest ball coach understands that, for the deeper, more unknown 2004-2005 installment of Harvard women’s basketball, there’s little to lose.

On one recent morning, she looks comfortable—mellow, quick to smile, gushing about her bevy of young, athletic starters.

On second thought, maybe she’s just pondering the sandy beaches of the French Riviera.

That’s where Harvard’s two top all-time scoring leaders—Hana Peljto ’04 and Allison Feaster ’98—have conveniently congregated to play out a full season schedule in France’s top professional league.

Well, one half of that tandem—Peljto, a rookie forward for the Cavigal Nice Basket club—is situated in that sunny spot. Feaster, star of Valenciennes, will play in northern France, near the chillier Belgian border.

On Feb. 12, the Crimson’s most illustrious duo will face off against each other for the first time ever.

“My big joke is that I’m going over to watch the game,” Delaney-Smith says. “But I’m staying with Hana.”

Unfortunately for all parties, the date coincides with Yale’s visit to Lavietes Pavilion.

That doesn’t mar the significance. The pillars of two eras of Harvard basketball will still collide.

Feaster, a 2004 WNBA All-Star for the Charlotte Sting, was the leader of a Crimson team that scored the biggest upset in college basketball history—a toppling of No. 1-seed Stanford in the first round of the 1998 NCAA tournament.

Peljto, the graceful Bosnian, led Harvard to new heights—in team success, class and dignity—in her four years as a member of the All-Ivy First-Team.

They have never shared the court. Neither did Magic and Kobe.

ON THE RIVIERA

“My transition has definitely involved some adjustment,” says Peljto, who plays Clermont next week.

The 22-year-old native of Sarajevo speaks brilliant French and most of her teammates speak English. The big adjustment, then, comes on the basketball court.

Peljto says that most of the forwards who play the four spot, her traditional position in college, are larger in France than they were in the Ivies.

“I spend much more time on the outside shooting and driving,” she says, “because now I am smaller but quicker than most.”

So far so good. In four games this fall, Peljto is Nice’s second-leading scorer with a 12.5 points per game average.

As for the life?

“Europe really is as fun as it sounds,” she says. “Cannes, Antibes, Monaco, Monte Carlo and the Italian Riviera are only a few kilometers away.”

Talk about jealousy. With housing on the beach—“Much better weather than Cambridge!” she says—Peljto has found herself in a spot many women’s professional players spend years jockeying to get.

“The veterans on the team tell me how lucky I’ve been to land in this situation,” Peljto says.

With six months remaining, and buried in the middle of the standings, Nice will need Peljto to continue her solid contribution. With the talented forward earning ever-increasing time on the court, she’s looking like someone who’s adjusting just fine.

MVP! MVP! MVP!

Allison Feaster knows a little something about pacing a team.

She’s won three straight French league MVPs, besting other WNBA players who moonlight in Europe’s best professional women’s league.

Delaney-Smith tries to put Feaster’s success into perspective.

“She owns France,” Delaney-Smith says.“She’s the best woman’s player in France. Her team wins the French championship every year. She is the MVP in France every year.”

Delaney-Smith has made a habit out of following Feaster’s professional exploits—she visited the WNBA All-Star just before Charlotte entered the playoffs this summer—and watched Feaster play in France last season.

“She was the star,” Delaney-Smith says. “We were stars because we knew her. And I was really a star because I coached her.”

Of late, Feaster has struggled with her health. A knee injury required surgery in August, which has prevented her from playing in France so far this season.

“Hopefully she’ll be healthy by the time we play her,” Peljto says.

Delaney-Smith says Feaster’s strength is her ability to adjust to conditions. In college, Feaster, like Peljto, played the post. In the WNBA, she was forced to play more perimeter defense, a stark change.

“She said for a year and a half that was her biggest challenge in the WNBA—defending [small forwards on the perimeter],” Delaney-Smith says. “Because she really didn’t do that here.”

Now, Feaster is one of the best defensive players in the WNBA.

And she can score, too. In 2000-2001, Feaster led the League Feminine with a 21.3 per game scoring average.

As for February 12? When Feaster and Peljto square off in Valenciennes, the game will inspire a conflict of loyalties.

Expect Delaney-Smith, the heretofore relaxed coach, to trouble herself about the outcome.

So who does she want to win?

“No, no, no,” she protests. “Both.”

Delaney-Smith pauses, weighing the benefits.

“My son is going to apply to Davidson, which is really near Allison Feaster’s house in Charlotte,” she says. “And she promised I could stay there.

“Versus, Hana’s on the Riviera…”

The battle between Harvard’s best ever basketball stars has yet to begin. The battle for Delaney-Smith’s favor is in full swing.

Early advantage? That’s the one thing she won’t happily divulge.

—Staff writer Alex McPhillips can be reached at rmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.