RamWire: Mestdagh reaches a dream she didn't know she had

The idea never crossed her mind.

After graduating from Colorado State in 2012 as one of the most prolific shooters in the women's basketball program, Kim Mestdagh turned her eyes back home. Back to Belgium, where she would play for her father, Philip, on the national team. Where she would play professionally at different locales in Europe.

The whole time, all she was trying to do was become a better basketball player. Playing for the national team was great. So was playing professionally. But the WNBA?

The 5-foot-9 shooting guard never really gave it a thought. It was never a goal she was working toward when she achieved it seven years after leaving Fort Collins.

"I honestly never thought the WNBA was a realistic thing for me, so in a way, I never could lose hope," Mestdagh said. "If it happened, great. If it never did, also great. But I have to say, if I knew back then how it felt to make it to this stage, it probably would have been a dream for me."

The revelation hit her last week when the Washington Mystics signed her to a contract after picking her up in February as an addition to the training camp roster. She turned the opportunity into a roster spot, seeing limited action in her first WNBA game this past Saturday.

She was on the court for 4:23, but it was long enough to attempt a pair of 3-pointers, making one of them in an 84-69 season-opening loss to the Connecticut Sun. She became the third CSU player to play in the WNBA, joining Becky Hammon and Katie Cronin.

Mestdagh starred at Moby Arena for four seasons, leaving as the fourth-leading scorer in program history with 1,676 points. She was one of the best ever behind the arc, making 290 3s (second behind Hammon's 365), she sits third in steals (233) and ranks sixth in free-throw percentage at a .813 clip. Since then, she's played professionally in a couple European leagues while also helping the Belgium national team progress in international competition.

In 2018, Belgium had its best finish ever in the World Championships, placing fourth overall as Mestdagh played a big role. One of her teammates, Emma Meesseman, plays for the Mystics, so while head coach Mike Thibault was keeping tabs on her, he was taking notice of Mestdagh, calling her an "all-around talent at guard" upon her invite to training camp.

Which was her actual bullseye all these years. Naturally, her father is proud of her development, but is more impressed with where the work has led her, noting it's difficult for a perimeter-only player to crack a WNBA roster.

"She was and stays a great shooter, and she's has gotten more mature," Philip said. "There's a big difference between college basketball and professional basketball in Europe. She improved a lot in her still to take screens, to play one-on-one and to score on pull-up jumpers. And she reads the game really well."

Some of what she'll encounter in the WNBA will not be new. Kim has faced off against some of the best on the international stage, having played against the USA's WNBA-dominated lineup in the 2018 FIBA World Championships. Belgium lost in the semifinal matchup, but Kim was impressive throughout the tournament. She averaged 16.2 points per game, fifth best in the field, shooting better than 50 percent overall, 48.5 percent from behind the arc.

She said those experiences will benefit her greatly moving forward, as will those times of persistence she's experienced. Not every game or season as a professional has been immediate progression, most contributing valuable lessons in per pursuit to become a well-rounded performer.

"It's kinda in my nature to constantly want to be a better player every season," she said. "That doesn't necessarily mean you have automatic success. And it hasn't always been easy, but it's in the hard moments that I was able to push through it."

Making the Mystics opening roster filled her with emotions she never anticipated encountering, and her rise has been met with an equal amount of excitement at Colorado State.

Coach Ryun Williams never coached her, but he applauded her fortitude to reach "the pinnacle" of women's basketball, and he knows it will inspire his current roster. It has for Lore Devos, who naturally looks up to Kim.

A native of Belgium, she worked with Philip for two years when she was younger, spending another season with him as her coach while playing in the top division. She said watching Kim play in the World Championships was amazing, as was getting to practice with her for a couple of weeks. However, this next step has broadened the outlook for players back home and even in Colorado.

"Her making the roster is for sure an amazing thing. This is an inspiration for a lot of young basketball girls in Belgium, and I think just for every Belgian basketball player," Devos said. "Everybody is proud another player made it to the WNBA. I don't think a lot of players at CSU knew her, but I told everybody, so now they probably do."

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