Alone No More

The Horned Frogs beat Arkansas. Sandora returned to TCU. "She came back and she was a different person," Coach Hall says. "It was like a cleansing."

She sought out all teammates not named Stephanie Faulkner. "She was like, 'This is me. This is where I'm from. This is who I am,'" forward Ashley Davis says. She talked to all coaches not named Lonnette Hall. Mittie hadn't known the extent to which her past bothered her. She truly and finally forgave her parents.

Her first game back, a win over Wisconsin-Green Bay, she scored 24 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked seven shots. Her next game, against Rutgers, she finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds. She ended the season with 23 double-doubles, best in Conference USA. Became the only Horned Frog in school history to average a double-double for the season. Broke the single-season school record for points, rebounds and field goals made. Took home her second straight C-USA Defensive Player of the Year award. Was named first team all-conference and was an All-America honorable mention.

After the season, Stephanie Faulkner transferred to Henderson State University in Arkansas to finish her degree. Injuries at TCU kept her from the court. Sandora wrote her a letter, in which she said she was "truly blessed" to have known Faulkner.

After the two friends said their teary goodbyes, Sandora didn't look for an apartment of her own. Instead, she moved in with Ashley Davis and TCU point guard Natasha Lacy.

By her senior year, Sandora had never missed a players-only domino tournament, held at her apartment.

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There are about 20 fans behind the TCU bench, a banner-bearing people with signs that read "We ·· #50" and "#50 WNBA Bound." Though they come from south Florida, some wear Horned Frog-purple T-shirts that carry the Superman insignia. Others are raucous and dance when the latest hit from Ciara plays during a time-out. And among this group, but not of it--you can tell by her uneasiness--is a middle-aged woman wearing sunglasses, a leather jacket, plaid pants and knee-high boots. She stands and walks around the arena as the game progresses.

It's senior day at TCU, and the Horned Frogs are playing Houston. Sandora Irvin's off to a great start. By halftime she has 10 points and, already, five blocks.

What a season she's had. She again broke TCU's single-season scoring record. Became TCU's all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocked shots. Became the first player in school history to record a triple-double, with 20 points, 18 rebounds and 16 blocks against the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The 16 blocks were a record; no NCAA basketball player, male or female, had ever blocked more than 15 in a game. In February, she became the all-time NCAA leader in blocked shots. Was selected to the Conference USA All-Decade team. Was named C-USA Player of the Year...

Four years later, just as she'd hoped, her name is all over those record books.

She calls her father about three times a week. Things are better. Daughn Irvin's spent the past seven days in Texas, watching Sandora's final three regular-season games. "I wanted to be here for this week," he says.

TCU loses to Houston, despite Sandora's 21 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks. Amid the postgame handshakes, arena officials escort the woman in knee-high boots to the court. The woman is Angela Hollis. Sandora, it turns out, flew her mother in just to treat her, to do something nice for her, to make sure she was here today.

With her parents standing behind her, Sandora's honored at half-court. A bouquet of flowers. A framed portrait of herself in uniform. A standing ovation. Minutes later, with the bouquet now in her own arms and sunglasses once more on her nose, Angela Hollis sits not far from the rest of Sandora's family, more at ease now than earlier, accepting praise for her daughter from passers-by.

A man she does not know asks to sit with her. Her back straightens. She pauses to consider the offer. When she says yes, her voice is tense and high. He tries to calm her, tells her of the story he's doing on Sandora, says she's one of the greatest players he's seen in person. She smiles. Her sunglasses are still on.

In October, police arrested Angela Hollis for possession of cocaine. She served 60 days in the Broward County jail.

The man feels she will not endure much small talk. Given your history, he says, given your daughter's history, what does it mean to be here today? To know that, despite all the things that have happened in the past, Sandora wanted you present for this? His head motions to the court.

"Oh," she says, her voice wavering now. She considers her words. Her sunglasses have slid down the bridge of her nose. You can see the red in her eyes. "I"--a short pause--"overwhelmed. Very overwhelmed."

Sam Eifling, a staff writer forNew Times Broward-Palm Beach, one of theDallas Observer's sister papers, contributed to this story.