Spoke with Tina Charles, Kelsey Griffin and Renee Montgomery to get a sense of what their plans were regarding the European season.

Charles will play in Orenburg, Russia for Nadezhda, Griffin will suit up for Mizo Pecs in Pecs, Hungary while Montgomery will embark for Israel.

"I am definitely excited, Shameka Christon and Rebecca Hammon (are on the team) so I am going to learn a lot and looking to improve my game a little bit," Charles said. "
I wanted to be on a good team, a place where I was going to get better. It is definitely going to help me because I know I am going to have to bring my game all the time."

Charles, who is likely to be a member of the U.S. team playing in the FIBA World Championship, is expected to report to Nadezhda after the end of the tournament which will be held from Sept. 23-Oct. 3 in the Czech Republic.

"This is just my craft," Charles said. "I love playing basketball so as many times as I can handle it and as much as my body can handle it ..."

Griffin joins former DePaul star Allie Quigley on Mizo Pecs.

"I just sent my contract a week ago," Griffin said. "I will be excited and nervous. It is a big step culturally and basketball wise but I am just going to stay focused on this right now.

"I have always heard about Russia but I didn't know about Europe. I just know I am playing for a EuroLeague team and that is important and I am excited to see all of Europe from that standpoint."

Montgomery was not certain of the name of her team but said it was in Maccabi. Maccabi Ashdod has been a popular destination for WNBA in recent years. Montgomery is only playing in Israel for two months so she can resume her broadcasting career.

"I signed a two-month deal which is pretty rare because I am not an overseas type," Montgomery said. "It is very appealing to somebody like me as far as we stay in a luxury hotel, it is very Americanized. But when I come back in December, I am here for good."

Montgomery is excited about continuing her work with ESPN when she returns from Israel in time to provide color commentary on women's college games.

"People tell me I have a good feel for it," Montgomery said. "It is hard to judge something you have never done. I will be done with the game and the people who are above me, they will tell me how I did. They will say 'are you sure it is your first time?' I'll say 'I guess I did well.' But it is hard for me to judge. In a basketball game I can judge I had a good game, I had a bad game but iwth that kind of stuff I still had to work on some stuff."

I couldn't help but ask Montgomery what her reaction would be if she was assigned to broadcast a Connecticut game.

"I would pass out," Montgomery said with a laugh. "I wouldn't expect that because I only did about six games last year, I would probably pass out and (think) 'what in the world?' But it would be a good passed out but that is the goal in the future."