the bench.In a Sportsnet story, Rowe revealed that Panthers owner Vinny

When it was time out for everyone else, it was time in for NaLyssa Smith.When it was halftime for the others, it was showtime for her.Smith was just 5 years old when she and her brother, Rodney Jr., who was 7, started tagging along to their dads rec basketball games in San Antonio, Texas. And whenever there was a break in the action, NaLyssa took over.Everyone was watching my sister, Rodney Jr. said. She was throwing up shots, and she was swishing and swishing.More than a decade later, those swishes havent stopped.NaLyssa, an undeclared 6-foot-4 junior forward for East Central (San Antonio), is the No. 12 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Terrific 25 for the 2018 class.Basketball has seemingly been her destiny since the day she was born. Her father, Rodney, was a 6-4 forward for the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her mother, Nikki, was a 5-8 sprinter on the AAU circuit.Before NaLyssa was born, doctors told her parents they were welcoming a 7-pound baby.Lo and behold, Nikki said, she was almost 10 pounds. The doctor almost dropped her when she came out. We make a joke about that every year on her birthday.Smith, who turned 16 on Aug. 8, was precisely 9 pounds, 15 ounces at birth. About a year later, she was already hooping in the garage with her brother -- swishing and swishing on a little plastic goal.I think she had that basketball mentality coming out of the womb, Rodney Jr. said.Smith was so destined to play basketball that her height has already matched her fathers. She towers over her brother by eight inches.Not that it bothers Rodney Jr.The 5-8 sophomore forward on the University of Saint Mary soccer team scored four goals and led his Spires with four assists last year while competing in the NAIAs Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.These days, he leaves the basketball to his sister.Im her No. 1 fan -- nobody is ever going to take that away from me, Rodney Jr. said. Shes all over my social media. I boost her so much -- Ive got to brag about her.Everyone, it seems, is a fan. Smith averaged 19 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks last season for a 22-9 team.She has numerous scholarship offers and will start receiving home visits from some of the top college basketball coaches in the nation. She wont narrow her list to five schools until March. In the meantime, she rattled off the schools she is considering: Baylor, Texas, Kansas, Texas Tech, TCU, Ohio State, Arizona State, West Virginia, Connecticut, Louisville, Oregon State, Notre Dame, Maryland, UCLA and Tennessee.Perhaps the first coach she impressed was Ian Ward, who wasnt even a coach at the time. He was just a guy playing adult-league basketball with Rodney Smith Sr.Ward, who is now Smiths coach at East Central, remembers the show she would put on at halftime of their games.She was tall for her age, and the way she could dribble and put the ball in the basket -- you could tell she was going to be special, Ward said.I dont remember a time where she wasnt at her fathers games. At the end of the timeouts, the refs would run her and her brother off the court. But at the next stoppage in play, they would be right back, getting shots up.Smiths passion for the game has only grown. She failed to make the U.S. U17 team this summer, but that didnt deter her at all.I wasnt really sad about getting cut, she said. It just motivated me to work harder.Next time, Im going to come even stronger to make them see what they missed this season.Smith, who has a 3.1 GPA, is interested in studying child development. She would like to own a daycare after she is done playing, but the possibility of coaching also intrigues her.East Central point guard Brittany Rodgers loves seeing Smith soar for her lob passes. Smith has dunked in practice, and her ability to score at the rim excites her teammates.But Smith is far more than a prototypical post player. She is so skilled that she initially shocked East Central assistant coach Keyondra White, who joined the team last year to mentor the guards.On her first day of practice, White asked the guards to join her.We break up -- bigs over there, guards over here, White said. When she comes with me, Im like, What in the world?But right away, shes doing ballhandling drills, hitting pull-up jumpers. Then she started knocking down 3s, left and right, and I knew she was special.White and Ward said Smith has become much more of a leader this summer, which makes East Central -- with all five starters returning -- a much more dangerous team.Koty Cowgill, who coaches Smith with the SA Finest AAU team, said her greatest attribute may be that she didnt just box herself into becoming a center. She took a complete-game approach, and its the reason shes in such demand with college coaches, Cowgill said.Smiths charisma is such that her father and brother have both tattooed their left arms with her name or nickname.Both NaLyssa and Rodney Jr. wear No. 3, and their brother-sister logo is S3, with the S standing for Smith.Our bond is unbreakable, Rodney Jr. said. I drove eight hours from Kansas to Colorado to see her at USA trials, and she busted out crying when she saw me.After he left for college, Rodney also surprised her at one of her high school games, hugging her on the court during warm-ups. She cried then, too.We go five months apart, so its always emotional when I see him, NaLyssa said. Its super hard.But when he comes home, were always together.Custom High School Jerseys . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Clearance Custom Jerseys . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. http://www.customjerseysnearme.com/ . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. Custom Hockey Jerseys . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. Wholesale Custom Jerseys .C. -- Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said after all of these years in the NBA hes still amazed at some of the things LeBron James does.SUNRISE, Fla. -- Here come the ex-Panthers.Three former Florida Panthers -- right winger Jack Skille, defenseman Erik Gudbranson and goalie Jacob Markstrom -- will arrive at the BB&T Center on Saturday night feeling pretty good as they prepare to face their old team.All three players contributed for their Vancouver Canucks (12-13-2) in Thursdays 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.Gudbranson scored his first goal of the season and added an assist. Skille scored his first two goals of the season and Markstrom entered the game in relief of injured Ryan Miller, making a pair of saves.Skille, a fourth-line winger who scored his two goals in less than eight minutes of ice time, credited Gudbransons excellent outlet pass for his first score.It was a good heads-up play by Erik, said Skille, a 29-year-old from Wisconsin who is playing for his fifth NHL team. I just took it to the net. I was fortunate it went in.The Canucks also feel fortunate to have Gudbranson, a 24-year-old who was Floridas first-round pick (No. 3 overall) in the 2010 draft.Gudbranson did solid work for the Panthers before they traded him in May for center Jared McCann, 20, in a deal that also involved draft picks going both ways.For the Canucks, Gudbranson has been reliable, playing every game and ranking second on the team in minutes. Only Ben Hutton, a fellow defenseman, has received more ice time for Vancouver.That brings us to Markstrom, who likely will start on Saturday because Miller left Thursdays game with 6:02 left due to a lower-body injury.Coach Willie Desjardins said Miller, who stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced, was not seriously injured.He felt sore, Desjardins said. He didnt feel quite right, so we took him out as a precaution.Miller, 36, has made 15 starts this season and is 6-9-0 with a .916 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average. Markstrom, 27, has made 12 starts and is 6-4-2 with a .900 save percentage and a 2.75 GAA.The 31st overall pick by Florida in the 2008 draft, Markstrom had to wait until Jan. 23, 2011, to make his NHL debut.Markstrom, though, couldnt clutch the starting job in Florida and was traded to Vancouver in the March 4, 2014, blockbuster deal that sent goalie Roberto Luongo back to the Panthers.A native of Sweden, Markstrom has never had a winning record in any NHL season. His career record is 32-46-11 with a 2.97 GAA.Markstrom, who is having the best season of his career, could see increased ice time if Millers injury is morre serious than Vancouver has reported.dddddddddddd.And that could certainly be the case. Last season, Miller injured his groin in December while making a save against the Panthers and missed three weeks. Initially, that injury also was downplayed -- the Canucks said it was just dehydration.Luongo did not have a great game in Thursdays 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He knocked in one puck off his right skate, gave up a rebound on a soft shot that was converted into a goal and allowed himself to get screened by two teammates on a third shot that went past him.That loss continued a bad trend. The Panthers are just 1-2-3 in the six games since ownership fired coach Gerard Gallant, putting general manager Tom Rowe behind the bench.In a Sportsnet story, Rowe revealed that Panthers owner Vinny Viola called him during that fateful night when Gallant was fired. The Panthers had built a 2-0 lead at Carolina before the Hurricanes stormed back to win 3-2.Viola wanted to meet with Rowe and Gallant after the game. Rowe said he wanted to buy more time for Gallant, who had just been given a two-year contract extension in the offseason.Lets get through this road trip. Lets maybe evaluate n the middle of December, Rowe said he told Viola. Then if things arent going good and you want to make the decision to let Gerard go, then maybe thats the better time to do it.Obviously, Rowe said, the decision was made sooner.And, obviously, the decision to make the coaching switch has not provided the spark the Panthers were seeking.In other story lines for Saturdays game:--The Canucks could call up rookie goalie Thatcher Demko to serve as Markstroms backup if Miller is not capable of playing on Saturday.A 21-year-old who played at Boston College, Demko is considered one of Vancouvers two top prospects. He is 5-1 with a 1.50 GAA in his past six starts in the American Hockey League.With Millers contract expiring after this season, Demko could be up to stay in Vancouver starting next year.--Canucks center Jayson Megna, who also scored twice on Thursday at Tampa Bay, is not a former Panther but he is a local player. He was born in Fort Lauderdale, just a short Uber ride away from the BB&T Center.--Rowe said defenseman Aaron Ekblad and center Aleksander Barkov will see their minutes go up in his coaching tenure as opposed to Gallant. ' ' '