Current Women’s National Basketball Association golden child, three-time Olympic gold medalist and former LSU Lady Tigers’ basketball star center Sylvia Fowles will have her jersey retired in the PMAC.
In the meantime, Fowles will just have to be content with being the frontrunner for the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player award.
In preparation for the award, the Minnesota Lynx released the recipe for what fuels her: tea, along with several other recipes. And like Fowles, who has long been called “Sweet Syl” by her teammates, the tea is sweet.
“I like sweet tea, so the campaign was a really good job,” Fowles said in an interview with ESPN reporter Holly Rowe. “I am from the South, so I prefer it to regular tea.”
The recipe, at first glance, is nothing special. It calls for eight bags of tea, one gallon of water and a cup and a half of sugar. It is a bit like Fowles in that regard. It is standard, but big.
Fowles, who was endearingly called “Big Syl” by LSU fans, is very tall — the standard for being a center in women’s basketball.
But there is something special about it.
Fowles adds a little bit of baking soda to her tea.
It provides the tea with a nice base and causes it to fizz up. That is more like Fowles. She has always stood out.
As a high school player, Fowles became the first woman to ever dunk in high school. She did not dunk at LSU until her senior season against UL-Lafayette, but it was one of the most memorable moments in a collegiate career that also included four Final Four appearances.
Fowles’s tea recipe starts with the special ingredient: sprinkling a quarter teaspoon of baking soda in a gallon pitcher, then adding eight tea bags. While the recipe does not call for any specific type of tea, orange pekoe black tea is recommended.
The tea is just sweet enough to avoid being too syrupy.
This season, Fowles has averaged 19.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, and two blocks. She ranks fourth, second and second in those categories, respectively, in the league.
Fowles has had 18 double doubles this season, the most in the WNBA, and currently ranks second in field goal percentage at 65.3 percent. Her talent has led the Minnesota Lynx to the top of the WNBA standings.
“It has been thanks to my guards,” Fowles said in her interview with Rowe. “They have been getting me the ball.”