But the six-foot-four centre from Markham, Ont., is poised to make her professional debut with the Charlotte Sting, who will open the WNBA season Saturday at home against the Los Angeles Sparks.
"Doing something that you truly love and getting paid for it, there is no other job that compares to this one," Sutton-Brown said via telephone from Charlotte, N.C.
"Just having the chance to play and get paid for it is the best job, really."
Tammy Sutton-Brown will make her WNBA debut with the Charlotte Sting.(AP Photo)
When Sutton-Brown, 23, steps on to the court Saturday, she will become just the third Canadian ever to play in a WNBA game.
National team forward Kelly Boucher of Calgary was the first, suiting up for the Sting in 1998.
The following season, Toronto's Merle Lynn Lange-Harris suited up for the Phoenix Mercury.
"There are no nerves -- I guess it really hasn't hit me yet," Sutton-Brown said about making her pro debut.
"It will probably hit me Saturday that it's here, but right now, no. My goals are pretty simple.
"I just want to come in here and contribute any way I can and continue to grow as a person."
Charlotte drafted Sutton-Brown in the second round, 18th overall, in April's WNBA draft, making her just the second Canadian ever to be selected in the league's four-year history.
Last year, the Detroit Shock picked guard Cal Bouchard of Aurora, Ont., in the fourth round, but Bouchard didn't play with the club, opting to remain with Canada's Olympic squad.
Sutton-Brown isn't the only Canadian on the Sting roster.
Angie Ball of Pickering, Ont., a six-foot-four forward, is also with the club, but is starting the season on the injured list with a shoulder ailment.
Sutton-Brown and Ball are the lone Canadian-born players in the WNBA this season.
"It's funny because she (Ball) told me that (two are lone Canadians in league)," Sutton-Brown said. "We were discussing that there has been so many players come out of Canada, but we're the only two (in WNBA).
"It is a special thing. I guess we're kind of representing our country here."
Kelly Schumacher, a six-foot-five American centre who attended John Abbott College in Quebec and was named the Canadian College Athletic Association player of the year in 1997, is on the Indiana Fever's roster after being selected 14th overall by the club in the WNBA draft.
Unlike the NBA, where even average players earn lucrative six-figure salaries, players in the WNBA make between $30,000 US and $55,000 US.
Still, that's not bad considering the league runs from May until August, allowing players to supplement their income by playing in winter leagues.
"It's a great situation that we're in," Sutton-Brown said. "I really haven't decided whether I want to play overseas afterwards.
"I guess I'll have to decide soon but right now I haven't."
Playing basketball abroad is nothing new for Sutton-Brown, who spent her college career in the U.S. at Rutgers University and has appeared in 30 games for Canada since making the national junior squad in 1996.
Sutton-Brown graduated to the senior ranks in 1999, participating in the Pan-Am Games in Winnipeg and averaging 10.3 points and 7.33 rebounds per game in Canada's 10th-place finish at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Sutton-Brown averaged 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game with Rutgers in the 1999-2000 season.
She shot 52 per cent from the field that season as Rutgers reached the NCAA women's final four.
Sutton-Brown said the level of competition in the WNBA is comparable to the NCAA.
But the biggest difference is off the court, where Sutton-Brown said players have a lot of free time.
"We normally practice from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.," Sutton-Brown said. "So I normally get to the gym at around 9 a.m.
"After practice, we might have to lift weights. If not, then I leave the gym, get home about 2 p.m. and maybe head to the mall or find something to do.
"But it's great because the weather is great and Charlotte is such a beautiful city. I'm really liking it here."
By Dan Ralph
