CHINA GROVE — Even after appearing on ESPN a dozen times, Tracy Connor was nervous Wednesday morning when she appeared on China Grove Middle School’s closed circuit television show.

Connor, 27, is a former South Rowan High and Wake Forest University basketball star and WNBA player, who now teaches earth science and is the assistant girls basketball coach at South Rowan.

Earlier this month, South Rowan retired her No. 30, only the second jersey retired in the school’s 43-year history.

“I think that’s every athlete’s dream,” Connor said. “And it’s quite an honor.”

Connor’s shirt is now one of two jerseys — the other belongs to longtime NFL punter Tommy Barnhardt — in South’s trophy case.

Connor spoke Wednesday at the middle school as part of their Black History Month celebration.

Before the show began, Connor joked about being more nervous than playing in front of an arena full of fans.

Student Government representatives Meghan Galloway and Erin Wootten — both eighth graders — run the show that is broadcast every morning over the school’s closed circuit television system.

Media Coordinator Paula Shepherd said they have had a morning show at the middle school for more than six years.

Math teacher and seventh-grade girls basketball coach Debbie Park — who coached Connor for two years when she attended Corriher-Lipe Middle School — introduced her to the students.

“She was an awesome athlete, but more than that, she’s an awesome person,” Park said.

Connor talked about her college days when she attended “the best college in the country, Wake Forest.” The Deacon alumnus took a moment to jab at China Grove Middle’s Chapel Hill fans.

But she spent more time talking about her South Rowan roots, having attended Landis Elementary, Corriher-Lipe and South Rowan.

“I am one of those people,” Connor said. “I am from the same small town and the same small school as you.”

Connor told students that there are a lot of people from the small towns of Rowan County who make a lasting impact on society.

“I followed my dreams,” Connor said. She explained that she had always wanted to be a rock star and then proceeded to serenade the students with part of an ’N Sync song.

After the show, Connor talked about her young days as a basketball player. She said when she was in grade school, coaches Park and Ann Clark encouraged her to play.

“They could see me playing in college,” she said. “I still didn’t believe it.”

At the end of seventh grade, they invited her to play for an Amateur Athletic Union team. Connor said at the time it struck her as silly to play during the summer.

A measles outbreak put a stop to Connor’s ninth-grade season at South Rowan.

But her coaches didn’t want Connor to sit out a year with no practice, so Clark drove her every day to South Iredell High School to practice with their team.

Connor said this coach influenced not only her basketball career but also who she became as a person. “We would talk the whole way up there,” Connor said. “She was teaching me life, but I didn’t realize it.”

Connor said she didn’t start thinking about scholarships for college until she was a sophomore in high school. Then she started getting letters from colleges and universities. No one in Connor’s family had gone to college.

At Wake Forest, Connor studied health exercise science, with a minor in biology, and graduated in 1996. She could not decide between teaching or going into medicine.

Connor then went to physician’s assistant school at Wake Forest’s medical school. She took one year off to play for Utah in the WNBA, but an injury made the decision for her to go back to school.

Connor finished her physician’s assistant degree and worked at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center before returning to her Rowan home to teach.

As a college athlete, Connor volunteered in a fifth grade class, where she realized her love of working with students. “I always worked well with children,” she said.

And even though she’s never had a record deal, Connor hasn’t given up on her dream. Her students would tell you she sings in class.

Contact Jillian McCartney at 704-797-4253 or jmccartney@salisburypost.com .