In what she considers an attempt to regain her love of basketball, Cindy Blodgett will head to France next month to play this fall and winter for a team in the northern town of Lille.

Blodgett, who finished her third WNBA season Monday when her Sacramento Monarchs were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs, picked the French team out of other offers from Spain and Israel.

She leaves in mid-September and will have a month of training camp before the season starts.

The former University of Maine star won’t disclose how much she’ll be paid to play. The money, Blodgett said, is the furthest thing from her mind.

“It’s not important. That’s not why I’m going there,” said Blodgett, who is visiting with her parents in Clinton. “When you’re used to playing a lot, and then you sit on the bench, you want to play. For me, I want to find my love of playing basketball again.”

Blodgett said she will likely be play the point guard position. And she’ll likely play a lot – something that she hasn’t done since starring for the Black Bears from 1994-98.

She continued to struggle to get sustained minutes on the floor this season. The two-time NCAA scoring champion played in 20 of the Monarchs’ 32 games, averaging 6.7 minutes and 2.6 points per game. She finished with nine rebounds, eight steals and three assists.

Her playing time was an increase from last year’s 2.8 minutes per game, but still down from 8.4 minutes during her rookie season in Cleveland.

“They don’t bring American players there to sit on the bench for any length of time,” she said. “They pay them to play.”

Blodgett spent last winter as an assistant coach at Boston University, saying she thought she would learn more from coaching basketball than playing abroad. She has indicated that she would eventually like to coach.

Sacramento Monarchs coach Sonny Allen, who didn’t agree that coaching was in Blodgett’s best interest, applauded her decision to play overseas. He said he has seen improvement in other players who have gone abroad.

“It’ll be good for her. It’s the best thing she can do,” Allen added. “Getting quality minutes is important and playing that kind of competition is a big help. If you lack speed and quickness you can work on that.”

Blodgett said she didn’t make the decision to go to France based on anyone’s opinion but her own.

“[Allen] doesn’t talk that much,” she said. “I don’t even know if he knows that I’m going. I don’t think he’s really concerned with what we do.”

The professional season in Europe runs about seven months, so Blodgett will have time to get back to the U.S. and prepare for the WNBA season.

Blodgett hasn’t spoken with her new coach in France, although she said he can speak English.

Blodgett doesn’t speak any “Francais.” She has relied on her agent to make all of her arrangements.

Because of that, Blodgett is unsure about some of the details of her new team and the upcoming season. She said she doesn’t know the name of the team, although she said her former Sacramento Monarchs teammate Heather Burge has played for the squad.

Burge, who was waived by the Monarchs before the 2000 season began, played for US Valenciennes Orchies in Valenciennes, which is about 25 miles southeast of Lille.

Ann Wauters of Belgium, who was the WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick this year, has also played for USVO. The U.S. national women’s team played a game against USVO in 1999.

Blodgett was also unsure of the name of the league in which the team plays and exactly what her schedule is.

Lille is located in northern France, less than 10 miles from the Belgian border. Most teams only play once a week, so Blodgett, who has never been to Europe, may have some time to explore.

“I had never even thought about going to France or Paris before,” Blodgett said.