Basketball New Zealand

Tall Fern Jillian Harmon and her Stanford team-mates celebrate their win (AP)

The night before the most important day of her life so far, new Tall Fern Jillian Harmon seems remarkably cool.

Sure, she’s hyped … as much about her sudden call-up for international duty as the impending NCAA final against University of Tennessee.

“Life is just so exciting,” admits the Stanford University forward. “Tomorrow will be one of the biggest games of my life, then four days later, I get to join the Tall Ferns in China.

“Surprisingly, I’m not that nervous right now … I feel really confident going into the game.

“Tennessee are the reigning national champions, but we beat them earlier in the year on our home court in overtime. We know if we play well, we can beat them.”

The dream certainly seemed a long way off two months ago when Harmon, sidelined by a stress injury in her foot, had barely given her Kiwi roots a second thought. Mother Julie hailed from New Zealand and had the foresight to register her daughter, born in New York, with the New Zealand embassy in Washington, an act that made securing the appropriate passport 21 years later a snap.

“One of my good friends, Clare Bodensteiner, told me she was going down to New Zealand to try out for the national team,” relates Harmon. “When I heard that, something clicked in my mind that I could do the same.

“Clare put me in contact with the coach and everything has happened so fast since then.”

Harmon has visited her adopted country and, in turn, been visited by her five NZ-based uncles and aunts. She has played against Kiwis Micaela Cocks (University of Oregon) and Jess McCormack (University of Washington) in Pac-10 conference play, and even helped bundle Natalie Purcell (Southeast Missouri State University) out of the NCAA tournament in 2006.

Next week, Harmon will line up alongside Bodensteiner, Cocks, McCormack, Purcell and the other Tall Ferns for the Good Luck Beijing tournament, the official Olympic test event.

But first, the business at hand.

She was a Cardinal starter before the injury, but missed the final stages of the Pac-10 regular season and was eased back into action off the bench during the conference tournament.

“I’ve worked my way back … I’m just thankful it was not a season-ending injury. I’ve been able to increase my production and minutes, until I’m back to pretty much full strength.

“I was out for seven or eight games and the team did so well, I didn’t want to mess up their flow.

“At Stanford, we have so many great players, we could put out any number of combinations that could do the job. Now, I’m just trying to provide any energy we need off the bench.”

The NCAA women’s final in Tampa, Florida, offers an intriguing showdown between the two top individual performers in women’s basketball – Naismith Trophy winner Candace Parker of Tennessee and Stanford’s Candice Wiggins, who took out the Wade Trophy.

NCAA Tournament Final
Tampa, Florida
Wednesday, April 9
Stanford University v University of Tennessee, 12.30pm (NZ time)