SPASH grad takes break from WNBA, picks up ultimate frisbee

Scott A. Williams | Stevens Point Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Janel McCarville: 'For me, this is home' Professional basketball player Janel McCarville talks about returning to central Wisconsin and playing Ultimate Frisbee in Stevens Point.

STEVENS POINT - Janel McCarville is hard to miss.

She stands 6-foot-2, has jet black, spiked hair and can often be seen wearing her trademark baggy basketball shorts.

On a warm Thursday night she's sporting a maroon T-shirt for the first place team in the Stevens Point Ultimate Frisbee Association.

McCarville, 34, is the former No. 1 overall selection in the 2005 WNBA Draft out of the University of Minnesota. But this summer, she has put her professional basketball career on hold, and exchanged her basketball for a frisbee. And she's a natural in a sport that combines aspects of football, soccer and basketball.

She saunters down the right side line waiting for the disc to be thrown to her. After a sudden cut into the middle of the field she finds a small window to receive a pass. A little off target, McCarville makes a diving catch for a point to give Maroon the lead.

Time spent in central Wisconsin among family and friends during the summer is something she has missed during her WNBA career. McCarville is at ease when she's home.

"I missed home," said McCarville. "I just wanted to spend time at home. See family and friends and hang out like I used to. Basketball didn't always allow me to do that. At some point something has to give."

For three of the past four years she toiled in the WNBA with the Minnesota Lynx. McCarville was a complementary piece on the Lynx team that captured the WNBA championship in 2013. In her first season, in 2007 with the New York Liberty, she was named the league's Most Improved Player.

RELATED: Phoenix standout selected in WNBA Draft

RELATED: UWSP students crowned frisbee champions

Now she spends one night a week at Madison Elementary School as a competitor in the Stevens Point Ultimate Frisbee Association.

"My mind, body and soul needed a break," said McCarville of her hiatus from the WNBA this summer. "Year after year after year (playing basketball) nonstop is tough. I'm 34 these days, going on 35. Thirty-five feels like the new 50."

McCarville has left the door open for a return to the WNBA in the future. It's not the first time she's taken a hiatus.

For now, home continues to be the family hobby farm with cattle, pigs and chickens in Custer. She lives in the same house she grew up in, where she developed her considerable basketball skills in the driveway.

Her mother Bonnie lost a battle with cancer in 2007. McCarville's father Terry continues to reside on the farm. Janel is the youngest of five siblings. Older brother Tim lives on 40 acres across the road from the family home.Tracy resides in Appleton while sister Julie lives in Kentucky.

Throughout her basketball travels, she has rarely been able to plant roots. She's played professionally all over Europe. WNBA nights were spent going from hotel room to hotel room. No one place felt like home.

In nine WNBA seasons with three teams — Charlotte, New York and Minnesota — McCarville has averaged 7.7 points. 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists over 21.3 minutes per game.

That will change. She said she hopes to build a place of her own in central Wisconsin.

McCarville is still never far from basketball.

She built a 45-foot-by-45-foot cement basketball court with a regulation NBA basket and collapsable rim in the middle of a farm field on the family property.The court is just a short walk away.

Without the sport she never would have been able to enjoy the fame and opportunity to travel the world. Being a professional basketball player has its perks. Basketball opened up doors for her to play in Slovakia, Russia, Italy and Turkey. She spent last winter playing in the Swedish professional league from late January to early April.

"I never would have thought basketball would have taken me as far as it has," said McCarville, who led SPASH to the Division 1 state championship game her senior year in 2001.

McCarville also took time off when she was with the New York Liberty in 2011 and 2012 and again with the Lynx in 2015.

She used that time to mend from the aches and pains of long professional seasons overseas followed by the WNBA campaign. She is in negotiations to return to her Swedish team, AIK, and play again this winter.

More importantly, the time away from basketball affords McCarville an opportunity to relax, unwind and reconnect with people who mean the most to her.

"Basketball is all good and everything, but I wanted a little more free time and a relaxing environment," McCarville said. "I relax at the house and cut some wood."

Her summers off consist of some recreational softball and volleyball, along with a new athletic interest — ultimate frisbee. Convinced by friends to come out to Madison School one night, McCarville instantly enjoyed the competition and camaraderie.

"(Ultimate frisbee) is less pressure, I'll say that much. You just show up and play and have fun," McCarville said.

McCarville received shout-outs and some friendly ribbing from other players as she stretched prior to a recent game.Once on the field, she uses her size and athleticism to her team's advantage.

The smooth transition to a skilled ultimate frisbee player hardly comes as a surprise to friends and former SPASH classmates.

"She's such a well-rounded athlete," said Nate Olson, another all-star and No. 1 Stevens Point Ultimate Frisbee Association pick. "She does things with her body that a lot of people can't do and her awareness is better than most people.

"It's pretty cool to watch her."

And whether she heads back to Sweden, returns to the WNBA or moves into the next phase of her career, McCarville feels most at home here.

"To me, central Wisconsin is home. It'll always be home for me," McCarville said.

Scott A. Williams can be reached at 715-345-2282, or by email at ssswilliam@stevenspoint.gannett.com. Find him on Twitter as @SPJScottWill