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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? AHEAD OF HER TIME A big get as an out of state recruit, Robin Threatt came to Wisconsin and got the Badgers to the Big Dance for the first time, making plenty of history along the way T BY MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM wenty years ago, Robin Threatt was still four years ahead of her time. She was all dressed up ― as Wisconsin's all-time leading scorer in women's basketball ― but she had no place to go in 1993. The Women's National Basketball Association wasn't ready for Threatt, nor anyone else. The WNBA didn't start playing games until 1997. "It's unfortunate that type of (professional) opportunity wasn't there as soon as I graduated,'' said Threatt. "But that's what history is about.'' After getting her undergraduate degree in agricultural journalism from Wisconsin, Threatt went back to school and got her Master's in marketing. It all led to a job with DuPont. After three years, she was transferred to the pharmaceutical division and relocated to Indianapolis, Ind. During this period, she never stopped playing basketball. "I played all the time, a majority of the time with guys,'' she said. "I had a trainer, too, and trained twice a day. I stayed active for the love of the game initially.'' With the advent of the WNBA, she had a keener sense for how the women's sport was beginning to take shape professionally and Threatt admitted, "I started thinking, 'Hmmmm, should I?''' Should she measure herself against the WNBA's standards? She was doing that already. "I saw some of the women playing on TV ― some I had played against ― and that became my motivation,'' she said. "I'd think, 'Man, I used to kill her. If she can make it, I know I can.' "It became a goal to be a part of history, a part of something big for women's basketball.'' Threatt achieved that when she signed with the expansion Seattle Storm in 2000. Seeing action in 20 games, seven as a starter, she scored a seasonhigh 24 points against the Minnesota Lynx. Not bad for someone who had not played organized basketball for seven years. "It was an honor to be considered one of those players who had the ability to make it to that level and play,'' she said. Although her pro career was short-lived, it was still a significant accomplishment to be able to connect the competitive dots between Wisconsin and the WNBA, between 1993 and 2000. "I felt I was a far better player,'' she said. "I don't think in college that I had peaked. If you continue to work on your game you're going to get better