Erika Valek arguably is the best pure point guard in the country. A 5-foot-6 senior for the Purdue Boilermakers, Valek is in contention for All-America honors, as well as the prestigious Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, which is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding NCAA Division I women's basketball player who stands 5-foot-8 or under.
Valek enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2002-03, when she averaged 14.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.6 steals per game for the 29-6 Boilermakers. She scored a career-high 26 points in back-to-back games against Iowa and at Northwestern, and handed out a career-high 10 assists against Western Michigan.
Valek has proven that she can distribute, defend, score and direct her team to unprecedented success: since Valek's arrival, the Boilermakers have won better than 80 percent of their games, won two Big Ten regular season championships, won a Big Ten Tournament title, and advanced to the NCAA championship game in 2001, her freshman year. Without a doubt, Valek will finish her career ranked in Purdue's all-time top five in assists, behind All-Americans MaChelle Joseph, Stephanie White and Katie Douglas. She already ranks in the top 10 all-time in steals, three-pointers, free throw percentage, and with 30 starts in 2003-04 she would become Purdue's all-time leader.
A 2000 high school All-American out of Coronado High School in Lubbock, Texas, Valek has started every game of her Purdue career.
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