LAS VEGAS (AP) — They’ll be on opposing teams when the WNBA Finals begin on Friday but coaches Becky Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces and Nate Tibbetts of the Phoenix Mercury have one thing in common: childhoods in South Dakota.
“We’re a very small state, so one thing I think people sleep on is the basketball in South Dakota,” Hammon said. “Mike Miller is another South Dakota guy. Eric Piatkowski. … Mark Ellis played Major League Baseball. We were in the same graduating class. That’s crazy to have two professional athletes in a school that size in a state that size. So that’s what we do. We do outdoors and sports.”
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