Hoop Dreams – Ilona Korstin

By Alexander Wildeve

Perfect number 10 in every sense, eye-catching Russian basketball superstar Ilona Korstine exhibits incredible grace, presence and beauty on and off court. A supremely talented shooting guard standing elegantly tall at 6’0”, she’s won a locker room full of trophies and medals throughout her rich career including two Olympic bronzes for her native Russia. She’s recently signed for leading Russian basketball team Spartak Moscow to open a new chapter in her already triumphant career.

A natural athlete, the magnificent Ilona Korstine was born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) on May 30, 1980 to an Estonian dad and Ukrainian mum who made sure their daughter concentrated as much on education as her sporting brilliance. Although dedicated to training as an athlete, Ilona Korstine also remained faithful to her studies of German, history, and literature, and recently graduated from Samara State Aerospace University..

Ilona Korstine excelled at a variety of sports from an early age including gymnastics, tennis, and swimming before finally discovering her exceptional talent and Jones for basketball. Deadly in the paint, within just six years she had mastered the intricate art of hoops and went first from novice player to major league team captain and ultimately led several teams to major international championships.

In 1996 at the ripe age of 16 she experienced her first year as an adult basketball player with St. Petersburg’s Force Majeure where she impressed with her tenacious dribbling, precision layups and relentless drives to the basket.

However, due to Force Majeure’s financial difficulties, Ilona and her team-mates found themselves playing for a period without wages. This led to her brave move at 17 to sign with French team CJM Bourges which involved learning a new culture and language from scratch. But she excelled and helped win a series of trophies in the French Championship and French Federation Cup.

Such was her skill and acclaim that at one point France attempted to obtain the considerable talents of Ilona Korstine for its own national team. France’s overtures proved in vain as Ilona ultimately made the patriotic decision to play for her native Russia.

This was a wise decision as with her 3-pointer and ball handling skills, she helped Russia take Olympic bronze in 2004 and 2008, European Championship medals in 2003 and 2007 (with three silver), and silver twice at the World Championships.

A successful homecoming

After a short stint in the U.S. with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, Ilona Korstine returned to her beloved homeland in 2003 to play in Russia’s major league for CSKA Samara (VBM-SGAU) which later became the now well established CSKA Moscow.

Ball bonkers – in her spare time Ilona Korstine likes to play billiards

A real wonder woman at shooting hoop, with her talent CSKA went on to win the Superleague Russian Championship three years in a row, the World League four times and the Cup of Russia in 2004, 2006 and 2007. To highlight her brilliance, she was chosen as International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) ‘Face of Women’s Basketball’ in 2006.

After six memorable seasons with CSKA, Russia’s famous number 10 has recently opted for a fresh start at Spartak in the 2009/2010 season. Again, the shrewd moving basketball beauty has brought her golden touch to Spartak as they recently won the European Supercup beating Galatasaray 92-59. It will now be the Spartak fan-base who’ll be wowed by her crossover magic behind her back and between her legs.
And always a trustworthy and enchanting member of the Russian squad, Ilona Korstine will be out to prove something at the forthcoming 2010 World Championships in the Czech Republic