2007-2008 - CST Alexandria (Romanian Division 1)
Romanian All Star selection.
2006-2007 - CST Alexandria (Romanian Division 1)
Romanian All Star selection.
2006 - AUGUSTA BLAZE (WBCBL, USA)
12.6 ppg, 2.1 rbd, 0.9 ast, 0.3 blk, 1.6 stl
WBCBL ALL STARS - Second team
2003-04 - AUGUSTA STATE UNIVERSITY (NCAA)
Points: 
434 total points (13.6 ppg)
Rebounds: 119 (3.7 rpg)
Assists: 130 (4.1 apg)
Steals: 52 (1.62 spg)
Overall FG%: .434 (131 of 302)
3pt FG%: .345 (10 of 29)
FT%: .790 (162 of 205)
Minutes: 29.2 per game
AWARDS & SPECIAL RECOGNITION
2nd Team All-Peach Belt Conference
1st Team All South Atlantic Regional Tournament
Team's 2nd-leading scorer, top playmaker
2004 Female Athlete of the Year at Augusta State University
2004 City Classic MVP
USC-Aiken Tip-Off Tournament MVP
USC-Aiken Thanksgiving All-Tournament Team
Team captain for 24-8 NCAA Division II Elite 8 squad
Scored well over 1,000 points in her NCAA career
1997-2000 - LANEY HIGH SCHOOL (Augusta, GA, USA)
Named 2000 Georgia High School Female Athlete of the Year finalist by GAHPERD & Georgia WIN (Women's Intersport Network)
Named Laney High School's 2000, 1999 and 1998 Most Valuable Player
2000 Georgia High School Association's All-Region Team
2000 Augusta West Rotary Club's Female Athlete of the Year award
1999 & 2000 John M. Tutt Award recipient
Named by Atlanta Tip-Off Club as AAA Honorable Mention All-State
HOW OTHERS SEE ERNESIA:
Comments from Augusta State University Head Coach, Greg Wilson
"In my 11 years of coaching at the collegiate level, Ernesia is without a doubt the best penetrator I have ever coached. She has a knack for drawing contact and
is strong enough to finish the play. Her perimeter shooting has improved each year she has been here and continues to improve in her individual workouts because of her outstanding work ethic. Her baseline-to-baseline speed with the ball is unquestionably as delightful to watch as she is to coach. Last but not least, her character is probably her greatest strength.
Our league's opposing coaches are extremely excited to see that her four years of collegiate eligibility are exhausted."
Wideman takes her shot from outside the U.S.
By Chris Gay, Staff Writer
From the Wednesday, February 28, 2007 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
Life could be much warmer for Ernesia Wideman these days.
Ernesia Wideman: Former Laney and Augusta State basketball star is playing for a pro team in Romania.
Click photo for optionsShe could be in her native Augusta working on her master's degree in secondary social studies. Instead, she's shivering in Alexandria, Romania, where the low temperatures this week have dipped below zero. That's excluding wind chill.
"The wind is the worst here," she wrote in an e-mail.
A former Laney and Augusta State standout, Wideman is coping with the weather. Besides, she works inside.
The 24-year-old Wideman is starring for CST Alexandria of the Romanian Basketball Federation. Since her arrival the first week in January, she's averaging 19.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game.
She's been named most valuable player in four of nine games. The 5-foot-7 guard also is on the league's all-star ballot.
Her star turn should come as no surprise. Wideman guided Augusta State to its only Elite Eight appearance in 2004. That year, she graduated with a criminal justice/sociology degree, but made basketball her chosen profession.
After tearing knee cartilage playing basketball at Warren Road Community Center later in the year, she lost interest in the sport. She began working as a correctional officer in Trenton and later became a probation officer.
In December 2005, she learned of a coaching position at Tutt Middle School. She took the offer and also worked as a paraprofessional at Glenn Hills High School. She soon resumed playing basketball , and continued coaching at the YMCA and at Richmond Academy.
Last summer, she played for the semiprofessional Augusta Blaze. During that same time, she attended the inaugural Women's International Basketball Review run by former Augusta State assistant coach Temekia Morton.
Hooked up with an agent , Wideman received an offer to play while vacationing in New York during Christmas. She had a week to return to Augusta, pack her stuff and head to Romania.
When the plane landed, snow was falling. It was a big change for Wideman, the first of many.
"I was still in shock and disbelief until I stepped off the plane," she said. "Reality kicked in real fast."
Wideman said there's still plenty of culture shock. During practices and games, she needs a teammate to translate what her coach says. Off the court, it's just as tough.
When she's hungry, she can't just run to McDonald's. There are no fast-food restaurants in the town. So the team's president has a driver deliver food (grilled chicken, vegetables, french fries and bread) every day at a set time.
Most days, she spends four hours at practice or playing games once or twice a week.
This is her life, and it'll be this way until April when the season ends. She'll return to Augusta and head back to graduate school this summer. But for now, Wideman manages the cold weather and fulfills her dream of playing professional basketball.
Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.
