EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Kristen Rasmussen fell in love with basketball when she was a very young girl.

Early on, she set a very steep long-range goal.

It wasn't about playing basketball in high school or college.



"I wanted to be the first girl to play in the NBA,'' Rasmussen said, with a laugh. "That was my dream.

"In the third grade, a teacher asked us what we were going to be when we grew up and I knew -- I was going to be a basketball player in the NBA. There were no other options for women at that time.''

Rasmussen, 30, who was a star at Okemos High and a standout at Michigan State, never reached the NBA.

But she's still made a great living at playing pro basketball -- nine seasons in the WNBA -- which started in 1997 -- and overseas. She's hoping for a 10th WNBA season as she tries to win a spot with the Detroit Shock.

Rasmussen is one of eight individuals and one team joining the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame next month as part of the 2009 induction class. Other inductees include Karyn Cribley, Jake Boss Sr., Paul Pozega, Gary Boyce, Bill Ross, Vito Perrone, Jim Mooney and the 1954 Lansing Everett football team.



See the rest of this story at the Lansing (Michigan) State Journal online.