Temple Product Candice Dupree Still A WNBA Star

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Candice Dupree was one of the best players in the history of Temple University women's basketball and since 2006 she has been one of the best players in the WNBA.

This is Dupree's 12th season as a pro and her first as a member of the Indiana Fever as she came over in an offseason trade after seven years in Phoenix.

"It's been pretty good so far," she tells KYW Newsradio about her first season with the Fever. "It's definitely an adjustment. I've had to take on more of a vocal leadership role with this group. But at the same time, I still get to lead by example. But I'm enjoying the bigger role that I have here."

Dupree, a forward, is averaging 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds a game this season for the Fever. These numbers are right in line with her career averages of 14.7 points and 6.8 rebounds a night.

"For me it's just trying to be consistent," she says. "I don't want to be one of those players that coaches never know what they're going to get, night in and night out. So I just pride myself on that, taking shots that I know that I can make on a consistent basis (she is a career 50.1% shooter from the field). Coaches refer to me as 'Steady Eddie' and I'll take that any day."

Dupree's resume really is impressive. In 2006 she was a first-round pick of the then-expansion Chicago Sky. She just took part in her sixth WNBA All-Star Game. She helped Phoenix win the WNBA title in 2014. She is 12th in WNBA history in career points and 9th in career rebounds. But while she has made an incredible impact at the WNBA level, Dupree hasn't forgotten about her college days.

"Playing at Temple, it was great," she says. "It was probably, to this point in my life, one of the best four years of my life. I still talk to a good majority of my college teammates. I'm actually really good friends with quite a few of them. Just the relationships that were formed between teammates, coaches. It was definitely an amazing experience."

Dupree and the Fever return to action on Friday night when they host the New York Liberty