DeSimone’s basketball career had a late start
During her playing days at Uniontown 5-foot-7 Denise DeSimone was a sharpshooter on the basketball court, even though she feels she got a late start playing the game.
无毛视频淚 really started late,无毛视频� DeSimone said. 无毛视频淚 don无毛视频檛 think I started playing basketball until I was about in eighth grade. It was really as a result of friends. I had a lot of friends that were interested in athletics and sports. That was a different time so we had to go outside and find something to do. Basketball, softball that stuff was what we had as recreation. So, I started in eighth grade and enjoyed it and just continued along the way.
无毛视频淭he only program that we had outside of the school was in the summer recreation league at Bailey Park. I think the playgrounds were tremendous. It was a place to learn how to play and have the freedom to play how you wanted to play. It was great, I think in a lot of respects back then women无毛视频檚 teams were playground basketball, even in high school. But you played all summer with the same group and then played in school. There was a real understanding of how each other played and I think that was part of our success way back then.无毛视频�
DeSimone helped the Lady Raiders post 53 wins in 64 games during her three years on the team, including two straight Section 3 championships.
无毛视频淲e played in the playoffs, but lost in the first round both years,无毛视频� DeSimone stated.
无毛视频淚t was a lot of years ago and the opportunities were limited,无毛视频� offered DeSimone. 无毛视频淏ut, I think we all were able to capitalize on our time that we played there and I think it was a great experience for us.
无毛视频淲e had a lot of success, I made a lot of good friends on that team.无毛视频�
The Lady Raiders at that time were coached by Janet Escue.
无毛视频淐oach Escue and I had a good relationship,无毛视频� DeSimone said. 无毛视频淚 think we were a close team.无毛视频�
DeSimone tallied 878 points in her Uniontown career.
Softball was another sport the DeSimone excelled in, she was a key member of the Lady Raiders无毛视频� section championship as a senior.
DeSimone was named to the Pittsburgh Press Terrific 20 in basketball as a senior.
Following her senior season, DeSimone had the opportunity to showcase her skills in some postseason hoops tournaments. She was the first girl from Fayette County selected to play in the Colt Basketball Classic, an annual tournament that pitted the finest players in the western part of the state against each other.
DeSimone responded with an outstanding performance. She scored 19 points during the two games and was one of 10 girls selected from the 40 participating to compete in an all-star game at Franklin Regional High School.
无毛视频淚t was a great experience all around to be able to play with girls from different schools,无毛视频� DeSimone said. 无毛视频淚t was a good experience and a good tournament.
无毛视频淚t was definitely a showcase back then and there were a lot of coaches there. I ended up with five solid college offers. It was a few out of state and some in state. It ended up pretty well. I weighed the offers and decided to go to Washington & Jefferson.
W&J was in the midst of a pretty good run in women无毛视频檚 basketball when DeSimone arrived on the scene.
During DeSimone无毛视频檚 freshman season in 1979-80, W&J went 17-2 and was the Pennwood West Conference Champions. DeSimone averaged 19.1 points per game as a freshman and she was named All-PWC First Team.
DeSimone averaged 21.2 ppg in 1980-81, and helped W&J to a 15-4 record and another Pennwood West Conference Championship. She once again was named All-PWC First Team.
无毛视频淲e had a lot of success my freshman season,无毛视频� DeSimone recalled. 无毛视频淲e had some good freshman coming in and we had a solid year when I was a sophomore.无毛视频�
DeSimone无毛视频檚 name still dots the W&J record book. She is tied for first for most points in a game with 40 against Bethany on Feb. 29, 1980. She is also tied for the second-most points in a game with 39 against Bethany on Feb. 8, 1980.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 odd to me that those records are still there,无毛视频� DeSimone explained. 无毛视频淚 think it is as result of really good coaching in women无毛视频檚 basketball right now, not just offensively, but defensively. I无毛视频檓 sure a lot of girls have better ability than I did. It just hasn无毛视频檛 happened, it无毛视频檚 difficult. I don无毛视频檛 think it has anything to do with my skills being far superior. It无毛视频檚 a different game now.无毛视频�
DeSimone transferred to Pitt after her sophomore season and didn无毛视频檛 play basketball.
无毛视频淚 had to make some judgments on what I wanted to do after college and is W&J the right fit for me,无毛视频� DeSimone stated. 无毛视频淒o I enjoy playing basketball? I didn无毛视频檛 have a great relationship with coach Vicki Staton. It made more sense for me. I wanted to get into journalism and business, and that无毛视频檚 what I did at Pitt.无毛视频�
DeSimone graduated from Pitt in 1983.
无毛视频淐oincidentally, I无毛视频檓 doing an executive in residence program at Pitt right now,无毛视频� DeSimone explained. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 working with their business school.无毛视频�
DeSimone left Pitt and did some work in the city and then moved to Memphis, Tenn., and started her first business, Superior Metals, with her uncle. She was in Memphis for 16 years and then came back to Pittsburgh in the early 2000s.
While living in Pittsburgh, DeSimone is involved with several businesses: C-Leveled, TCG Technical Consulting Group, Steel City Comic Con and Industrious CFO.
无毛视频淚 think you learn some things in athletics,无毛视频� explained DeSimone. 无毛视频溛廾悠� really teaches hard work and dedication and collaboration. I think I无毛视频檓 where I无毛视频檓 supposed to be.无毛视频�