Making the decision to transfer schools, and then sitting on the bench for an entire year is never easy for an athlete.
Having to step in and essentially replace a former All-Pac-10 post player is even tougher.
But it's a whole lot easier when there's another player in the exact same situation.
That's been the tale of junior transfers Sybil Dosty and Lauren Lacey of the ASU women's basketball team.
The two post players have become a solid inside duo in their first season together on the court, while having to follow in the footsteps of former Sun Devil greats Emily Westerberg and Aubree Johnson.
And they've gone through the entire process together.
In fact, the two players are very rarely mentioned by themselves. It's usually "Sybil and Lauren," as if they are a single person.
Or "Lauren and Sybil," which Lacey jokingly prefers.
Even when asked about something that makes them unique as a person, Dosty relied on Lacey to come up with an answer for her, and vice versa.
Dosty shared that Lacey has an obsession with gossip magazines, while Lacey said Dosty has a gym shoe fetish.
Learning random facts about each other was inevitable while both of them were forced to sit out last season because of NCAA transfer rules. Instead of suiting up for the Sun Devils, the pair had plenty of time to play on the practice scout team and to get to know each other while sitting out.
Their personalities clicked and a friendship quickly developed.
"It's like we were forced to be together, and then we hit it off," Lacey said. "We hang out outside of basketball. She's honestly one of my best friends on the team, so it just worked out perfectly."
In their first season of game action for ASU, Lacey is tied for the team lead in scoring with an average of 12.2 points per game, while Dosty leads the team in rebounding (6.3 per game). Lacey sits just behind Dosty on the boards, averaging 6.2 per game.
"Obviously, they're rebounding great, and they're being very aggressive in terms of wanting the ball and scoring the basketball for us on the block," ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said.
A change in allegiances
For Dosty and Lacey, it's been a journey to become the spotlight of the Sun Devil basketball program.
Dosty began her career at Tennessee, Lacey at Minnesota, but after two years in those respective programs, each knew they needed a change.
Lacey said she even started thinking about transferring after her freshman season, but wanted to wait one more year to see if anything changed.
"I come from a family of non-quitters, and my family and I looked at it as if I [didn't] wait it out one more year, then I would look it at as a quitter to myself," she said. "It just wasn't a great fit, and I just knew that I needed to check out of there."
Dosty said similar circumstances prompted her to leave Tennessee, which left each player looking for a new school and basketball program after the 2005-06 season.
Enter Arizona State, where Turner Thorne originally recruited Dosty and Lacey to during high school, and where both felt was the best place to make a new home.
"How can you not want to play for Charli and [assistant coaches] Joe [Anders] and Meg [Sanders] and Laura [Hughes]?" Lacey said. "They are the best coaches in Division I college basketball, hands down, just overall [because of] the way they care for their players."
But finding a second home also meant Dosty and Lacey would have to sit out an entire season in the middle of their college careers.
Luckily, they had each other.
"We definitely bonded," Dosty said. "We became really good friends because when [the rest of the team was] gone, we really had no one else to hang out with. We had no other choice but to become close."
Changing schools, however, didn't mean Dosty could completely escape her past, as Tennessee visited Wells Fargo Arena last year while she was sitting out.
"It was definitely weird," Dosty said. "It was cool though because I got to see some of my old teammates. More than anything, I wish I could have played. That was probably the hardest thing, just to have to sit there and watch."
Working and waiting
While the 2006-07 Sun Devils were preparing for games and traveling, Dosty and Lacey were focused primarily on improving and expanding aspects of their games.
"Last year was huge for us because we weren't able to travel and play games, but we obviously were doing so much more extra work off the court," Lacey said. "That has helped us get a lot more comfortable within [Turner Thorne's] system for this year. That made the transition a lot easier."
Turner Thorne said that the hard work Dosty and Lacey put in during the past year and a half is evident on the court and in the box scores.
"They really want it," she said. "They're really hungry, and they really have been learners, so it's paid off, which is fun to see."
But Dosty unexpectedly had to wait even longer to start making an impact on the floor for the Sun Devils because of a knee injury that made her miss all of preseason practice.
"It was a horrible feeling overall," Dosty said. "It was definitely a mental strain having to sit out after I was so excited to play, but now I look back on it and it was just another obstacle I had to overcome."
Dosty slowly worked her way into the starting lineup and was rewarded for her play when she earned the Pac-10 Player of the Week award on Dec. 31.
More than just ball
In addition to their basketball skills, Dosty and Lacey have also brought some fresh personalities to the Sun Devils this season.
"We're both jokesters," Dosty said. "[Lauren's] loud and goofy. I'm probably more sarcastic — I just throw little side comments in. We both like to have fun and just keep things light."
Turner Thorne even said earlier this season that she predicted the team bus on road trips would be louder once Dosty and Lacey joined in.
Coming to ASU also meant coming home for Dosty in sorts. She's a Tucson native who actually grew up a UA fan.
"I didn't really have a choice, both my parents went to UA," she said. "I still follow some of their sports, not going to lie."
One of those sports is women's volleyball, as her younger sister, Whitney, is an outside hitter for the Wildcats.
For Dosty and Lacey, coming to ASU not only has taught them about basketball, but about life itself.
"Charli always coaches [that] there's more to life than basketball," Lacey said. "She wants us, when we're done here, to still be amazing people, not just, 'Oh, she was a great basketball player.'"
"When I first came out here, I wouldn't say I was selfish, but I didn't really think about my teammates as being so much as my family," Dosty said. "Being around these girls and how they've embraced me as one of their teammates even though I came from a different team, I just think I really started caring for people."
Turner Thorne said she wants to see Dosty and Lacey continue to improve on both ends of the floor, and both players said they are willing to do whatever it takes help the Sun Devils make another run in the NCAA Tournament this season.
Both Dosty and Lacey have been to the Big Dance before with their previous schools, but never together.
Now they want to do it as one.
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.
