Temeka Johnson visits Chicago and inspires everybody.

On her Louisiana ties: ""Everyone got out. What my family lost was all materialistic and can be replaced.''

On high school commitments: ""When you're an athlete in high school, there is so much focus on where you're rated and who is recruiting you, and I've learned that it just doesn't mean that much. The most important thing that I tell every kid is that they have to give as much time to their studies as they do to their jump shot or anything else on the basketball court.''

Johnson not only earned her LSU degree, but began work on an M.A. last year. Coach Pokey on Johnson: "No one talks about it, but when she came here, she wasn't a qualifier. She couldn't practice with the team. She had to pay her own way, and she lived with relatives. That's a pretty big thing to have taken away. But she built herself up and elevated the program to an elite status.''

Oh, and she's Rookie of the Year. The vote was a landslide.