WNBA legend Sue Wicks' 2nd act: Long Island oyster farmer
SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. - From baskets to bags of oysters, and sneakers to water shoes, WNBA legend Sue Wicks has discovered a second passion as a Long Island oyster farmer.
"I like to earn my living doing something that makes my soul feel good," she said. "It kind of is full circle."
The 55-year-old recalls fond memories of summers working on her father's boat in the Great South Bay back in the 1970s.
"In my little child mind and imagination — this big, huge sky, it's just you and the water and all these creatures," she said.
It's a place she now says is equally special to her as the basketball court was for the more than 15 years she played professionally.
She uses a net for a different purpose, as the owner and operator of Violet Cove Oysters, a farm on three acres just feet from her home in Mastic Beach.
It was a transition that still throws her former teammates for a loop.
"They'll follow me on Instagram and say, 'Girl, what are you doing out there!" she said.
Five days a week, for hours at a time, Sue farms and sells thousands of bags of hundred counts to local restaurants and wholesalers.
"That dopamine you get when you score a basket is a reward in itself," she said. "It's the same thing with the oyster — it's gratifying on so many levels."
And just like basketball was for the pioneer player, Sue said getting paid to oyster farm is a bonus. And keeping the family tradition alive is priceless.
"I had a whole life but always wanted to come back to Long Island to be on the water," she said. "You're already paid by the experience. It's one of those things that must be in the blood."