On those exceptional occasions when life pivots, when one act ends and another begins, a spectrum of feelings and emotions normally kept buried is exposed. Kelcey Roegiers-Jensen and Dominique Redding - best friends, basketball stars and now high school graduates - are in the midst of such a momentous transition.
They met on a basketball court eight years ago, at age 10, and their lives since have been defined by a shared devotion to the game they love.
Their burgeoning friendship rode shotgun to their basketball careers as they starred for the same AAU team but different high schools (Redding at Clearwater, Roegiers-Jensen at Boca Ciega), attended elite camps and negotiated the arduous crucible of college recruiting. All while enduring "routine" teenage tribulations.
The friendship was run through the gantlet. It was stretched and strained, tugged and twisted. And when graduation sneaked up on them last month, Redding and Roegiers-Jensen shared an uplifting realization.
Not only were they still best friends, they were closer than ever.
"I don't think many people can say they have a true best friend who they can rely on through anything," Roegiers-Jensen said. "She knows that I have her back through anything, and she's definitely had my back through everything."
From among the crush of reflections they shared on the past eight years, the overriding one was gratitude, for having had an honest-to-God best friend.
"Kelcey's an ideal best friend," Redding said. "If you wanted a best friend, it would be her. She's always there for you.
"She's funny. She's smart. She's just always there for me. I can't say this stuff without crying. I can tell you I'm going to miss her a lot. I won't find another friend like her. She'll always be my best friend. And I only have one best friend, and that's her."
Redding graduated May 20 from Clearwater, where the 6-foot-1 forward led the Tornadoes to the state semifinals three times and is, arguably, the best player in Pinellas County history. Ten days later, she headed to Knoxville, Tenn., to begin summer school and conditioning with legendary coach Pat Summitt's hallowed Tennessee Volunteers.
She already has hurtled into the next stage of her life.
Roegiers-Jensen, who graduated with distinction from the medical program at Boca Ciega, begins at Georgia State in August. She will play point guard for a Panthers program gunning for its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
They have come a long way.
Redding started getting hooked on hoops in fifth grade, roughly the same time as Roegiers-Jensen.
"She came home one day from Roberts (Park in St. Petersburg) and said she met Kelcey," said Mary Adams, Redding's mother. "They just hit it off."
Adams was a single mom who also had four adult children and a full-time job. Her primary concern was making sure her "precious one" was in good hands. (Redding's father never has been a part of her life.)
Adams found what she was looking for with the Clearwater Green Wave AAU team. The players and parents developed into one big communal family.
"I could see the way they cared about all of the kids," Adams said. "I knew everything would be okay."
Roegiers-Jensen's father, Chuck Jensen, was one of the Green Wave coaches. Jensen and his ex-wife, Kathy Roegiers, are as amicable as imaginable, and they were among the numerous parents who created a support cocoon.
"Everybody was pulling for all of the girls, regardless," Roegiers said. "I remember last-second shots, winning tournaments, state championships. Just incredible moments. Incredible people and real moments that we all shared. There's nothing that can ever replace that."
Jensen has been a backbone during the careers of both girls.
"He was like a father figure and still is a father figure," Redding said.
Redding and Roegiers-Jensen joined the Green Wave in 1996, and they won the 11-and-under state title that year.
They were on the team for another five seasons - and won another five state titles.
The 5-7 Roegiers-Jensen, a superior passer and ball-handler, and Redding, a gifted inside/outside scorer, were cornerstones of the Green Wave juggernaut.
"On the court, they're like silk," Adams said. "They just jelled together."
"We complement each other," Redding said. "She's the loud one, getting the crowd involved."
They also jelled off the court.
"She's definitely a clown," Roegiers-Jensen said jokingly about Redding. "She'll make you laugh. I guess she doesn't have all of her marbles."
When high school beckoned, they realized it would be hard to maintain their relationship. They live about 25 minutes apart - Redding on Browning Street in Clearwater, Roegiers-Jensen at her mom's house near Northeast High in St. Petersburg - and were about to become intense rivals.
Clearwater was the North Pinellas power, Boca Ciega its south county equivalent.
"We were bound and determined not to drift apart," Roegiers-Jensen said. "We saw it happen with a lot of other girls on the AAU team. We weren't going to let anything get in between us."
It wasn't that simple. They were embedded in their respective schools and teams, and both are strong-willed. There was one particularly bad patch during their freshman year.
"It was just some personal stuff between us," Roegiers-Jensen said. "We didn't talk for a while. Dom actually wrote me some letters through the mail. Then we got on the phone and talked about it, and it was over."
"They had a bad period, and they came through it. They've gone in different directions and still always pulled together," Roegiers said. "I'll remember their friendship, how long it has been and how it withstood all kinds of things."
Redding and Roegiers-Jensen were instant standouts as freshmen, making the Times All-Suncoast team as the best in the bay area.
But a funny thing happened on the way to their four-year mega-rivalry: It didn't happen. Boca Ciega coach Harry Elifson left to become an assistant at South Florida, and the Pirates tumbled from the elite for the next three seasons, no longer playing a top-flight schedule or able to compete with the best teams. Clearwater continued to excel.
Roegiers-Jensen, a fierce competitor who also is a standout in flag football, initially struggled to cope with Bogie's fall from grace.
"She has had a lot of tolerance," Redding said. "Going from the way things were her freshman season (23-8 against a rugged schedule) to not-so-good (17-12 against a much softer schedule), I would have died. I couldn't have done it. Her mind-set is stronger."
The experience ultimately made Roegiers-Jensen a better person and teammate, which, in turn, enhanced her other basketball outlet. The past two years, Roegiers-Jensen has coached youth teams, primarily girls ages 11 and 12 in local leagues and AAU competition.
Louis Rowe, Roegiers-Jensen's coach in middle school, helped foster her coaching bug early. "When we would get in the huddle and diagram a play, Kelcey would ask questions. Why? Why? Why?" Rowe said. "I'd say, "We have to screen here and screen here to have someone open here.' And she'd say, "Okay, coach, I see.' "
Rowe coached basketball at John Hopkins Middle School for 30 years. He has been impressed by Roegiers-Jensen since they met in 1996, when she walked into the gym and told Rowe she wanted to join the team.
The 11-year-old right-hander left him speechless.
"Kelcey grabbed the ball and started shooting around," Rowe said. "And then she dribbled the length of the floor with her left hand and made a left-handed layup. I couldn't believe it. From that point on ...
"I have coached many a great athlete. I think Kelcey is the best."
One of the beauties of youth is freedom from doubt. Roegiers-Jensen and Redding would go to the same college, of course. And that college would be Tennessee, of course, unless it was Florida. That was etched in stone sometime around eighth grade.
Recruiting, however, has no regard for such things as pacts and friendships. The summer before their junior year, with Summitt watching closely, both performed well at Tennessee's basketball camp. A year later, however, when coaches could begin phoning recruits, Summitt courted Redding but not Roegiers-Jensen. Florida offered Roegiers-Jensen a scholarship then snubbed her after a coaching staff overhaul.
Suddenly, it was chaos. Roegiers-Jensen rode the recruiting roller coaster throughout the summer and into the fall. One day, this school looked promising, the next day this one, and so on. Finally, she committed to Georgia State in October and signed in November. It was a huge relief after months of volatility and stress.
Summitt withheld Redding's scholarship offer until her official campus visit in October, when the Vols rolled out the orange carpet. A jersey with her No. 13 and "Redding" on the back was waiting in the Tennessee locker room.
Redding trumped absurdly long odds to achieve her Tennessee dream, though it isn't exactly as she envisioned. Roegiers-Jensen won't be at her side.
"You want it to be perfect, a perfect world where everything you want comes true. But it's not that way," Redding said. "But we did it in high school, going to different schools, so we can do it in college. And Knoxville's not that far away from Atlanta."
With her college plans set, Redding zeroed in on that elusive state title. She had led Clearwater to two final fours, including a loss in the state championship as a junior.
The Tornadoes stormed through the regular season and won their district. In the first round of the state playoffs, they faced ... Boca Ciega.
It was the last time the girls would play against each other. Family and friends gathered at Clearwater's Jack. L. Wilson Gymnasium for the special occasion, some holding signs, one of which said "Thanks for the memories." Roegiers was in tears afterward.
The game itself was anticlimactic. Mighty Clearwater won easily, as anticipated, despite Redding not starting due to flu-like symptoms.
"I wish we didn't have to play them," Redding said. "You don't want to put your best friend out."
Roegiers-Jensen was more philosophical.
"If we were going to lose, why not get put out by your best friend?" she said. "One of us had to go home that night."
In the region final, Clearwater stomped Seminole (which had been 29-2) and former Green Wave teammate Jen Hansen 70-43. Redding scored 30 points one day after being named to the McDonald's All-America team.
A showdown with nemesis Hollywood South Broward loomed in the state semifinal. The three-time defending state champions defeated Clearwater for the title in 2002. The Tornadoes were out for revenge and had played a beefed-up schedule to prepare, including a victory against nationally ranked Sacred Heart, Ky.
With Summitt in the stands at the Lakeland Center, Clearwater missed 63 of 77 shots from the field en route to a 67-36 drubbing. Redding made 5 of 14 shots and committed seven turnovers. Her brilliant prep career closed with a whimper, her goal unachieved.
"Don't worry," Summitt told her afterward. "I won't judge you on tonight."
It wasn't quite the end for Redding. She was selected to play in the McDonald's All-America Game in March in Cleveland and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game during the women's Final Four weekend in Atlanta. While Roegiers-Jensen spent that weekend coaching Showtime, her girls 12-and-under AAU team, at a tournament near Orlando, Redding was hobnobbing with the legions of Tennessee supporters at the final four, getting a taste of what is to come.
Redding and Roegiers-Jensen always have had a supreme confidence in their basketball abilities. That self-assurance has filtered into other aspects of their lives during the three years since the Times first wrote about them in the summer of 2000.
"Kelcey's changed immensely. Her maturity level is so much (higher). She's so aware of everything," said her sister, Lexi Roegiers-Jensen. "Even just in the two years I've been gone (at Methodist College in North Carolina), she's changed so much. It's everything, maturity, responsibility."
Roegiers-Jensen's rough edges have smoothed.
"Kelcey tries to be this hard-core person on the court and tough, but really, she's not," Adams said. "She's soft underneath, very loveable."
The naturally reserved Redding has become more comfortable socially. It was inevitable to some degree as she has met hundreds of coaches and players at dozens of tournaments and camps through the years. Clearwater coach Tom Shaneyfelt said Redding grew into a leader this season.
"When I first got (to high school), I really didn't talk to anyone. I'd just come into practice and leave," Redding said. "This past year, I opened up."
Another indicator of the girls' development is their upgraded commitment to physical conditioning.
"I have a better appreciation of what it takes to be a good player," Redding said. "I know I wasn't in the best of shape."
"By far what's changed the most about Dom is her work ethic," Roegiers-Jensen said. "She actually wants to be better, not just be a girl with some skills and some height."
On a warm Sunday afternoon, the day before Memorial Day, everyone gathered for Roegiers-Jensen's graduation party at her mom's house on Taylor Street N in St. Petersburg. At one point, in the middle of a seemingly innocuous conversation, Roegiers and Adams embraced and cried.
"One door is closing behind Dominique, and a new one is opening up," Adams said. "But I'm looking forward to she and Kelcey, even though they're going in separate directions, sooner or later having their paths cross again."
Both girls are eager to take the plunge. Major college basketball has been their unflinching goal since middle school. It is what they chatted about into the night during sleepovers and what they've been preparing for - and preparing each other for - all these years.
"We've already established that there's not going to be anything that comes between us, whether she's in Tennessee and I'm in Georgia or she's in California and I'm in New York," Roegiers-Jensen said. "We're still going to be tight.
"We're best friends."
Today's installment is the ninth and last of the series. The first eight installments can be found by clicking here.
