what you WILL see in D3 Hoops

There are a lot of things that as a spectator you probably won’t see when watching Division III women’s basketball this season. Most likely, no matter which teams you’re watching, you aren’t going to see the next WNBA draft pick. While it’s not impossible, you probably won’t witness a dunk like Candace Parker. And hopefully, you won’t see a player get pulled to the ground by her ponytail like in the New Mexico vs. BYU women’s soccer game. But—I can tell you about what you will see:

Fearlessness. Most people who knew anything about the George Fox Bruins would have expected the women on the team at Cal Lutheran to be afraid going into Sunday’s game. Clearly, that was not the case. They knew George Fox was the defending national championship team. And they knew that the Bruins were on a 36-game winning streak. Yet they were fearless. The Cal Lutheran Regals led almost the entire game and when the buzzer went off, they had won the game nobody thought they could.

Determination. The Illinois Wesleyan Titans spent the last six weeks of the 2008-2009 season as the No. 1 team in the nation. But when the pre-season Top 25 polls came out on D3hoops.com, they found themselves as #6. While they certainly haven’t had a long history as the top team in Division III, they wanted that position back. And with the team who filled that #1 spot (Washington University) on their schedule early on, they had the perfect opportunity to get it back. So that’s exactly what they did. They had a goal, and they were determined to achieve it. So they played the game, they won, and they earned their spot back on top.

Aggressiveness. Monmouth College lost a lot in their graduating class last year. The team will look to replace last year’s star players Tanesha Hughes and Melissa Gorski. A big problem they will face this season is their lack of size, but the way to make up for that is with aggressiveness. “We’re going to be smaller than most teams,” predicted Head Coach Melissa Bittner. “Lacking the size, we’ll need to be the scrappy, aggressive, athletic in-your-face team.” A team could have all the talent in the world, but if they don’t play aggressively it doesn’t matter. When it comes down to it, the best teams in the nation play aggressive.

Hard work. Every athlete knows that it is almost guaranteed that somewhere another athlete is working longer and harder. The University of Texas at Tyler will have a new head coach for women’s basketball this year.  Coach Stasha Richards will take over for the Patriots this season. When talking about success, she says this: “Everyone in the world would love to have a recipe for success. But, the truth of the matter is there is no sure fire way to ensure anyone will be successful in anything they do. I believe that there are many elements in the equation that can greatly improve the odds. The very first thing is to work as hard as we can in everything we do. We cannot take shortcuts.” Of course, not every single talented player is an extremely hard worker, but hard work can sometimes make up for talent, believe me I’ve seen it happen. Because the one thing no one can ever take away from you, and the one thing you can always control is how hard you work.

Victory. At the end of the season, there will be a team who can call themselves the best team in Division III women’s basketball. Though there will be many successful, hard-working, aggressive, determined and fearless teams, only one can win it all. There will be countless victories for numerous teams throughout this long season, and after all, that is what these teams are playing for. Even though people say “it’s not about wins or losses, it’s how you play the game”, I think Mia Hamm perfectly described how athletes really feel when she said “whoever said winning isn’t everything, probably never won.”

Any Given Day.

In California on Sunday, a women’s basketball game ended in a result that I think is fair to say no one expected. The George Fox Bruins’ 36-game winning streak came to an end. To say that their opponent, Cal Lutheran, had a very different season from them last year is an understatement. Cal Lutheran had only 7 wins to their 18 losses in the 2008-2009 season, while George Fox was the only team able to finish with a completely undefeated season by winning the national championship.
This just goes to show that any team can beat any other team on any given day. Of course it is a new year and neither team is the exact same team they were last year, but I’m sure that wasn’t enough to convince George Fox they would lose this game.
The Regals led for most of the game, and even after No. 4 George Fox was able to tie the score with two and a half minutes remaining, the Regals wouldn’t let go. They held the Bruins scoreless the remainder of the game. None of Cal Lutheran’s players reached double-digits but 10 players scored.

In 1980, the US hockey team beat the Soviets and America went crazy. In 2007, Appalachian State beat Michigan and Ohio State fans will never let Michigan forget it. In 1990, Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson and surprised the entire world. In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, #8 Golden State defeated #1 Dallas in the first round and the Warriors celebrated their first playoff series win in 16 seasons. And, let’s be honest, the upsets are the reason fans watch the early round games of March Madness. Each year everyone is wondering who is going to be the next Cinderella team. Upsets are one of the greatest things about being a sports fan.
A small company is not going to overtake Google tomorrow, but for any level of any sport, any team can beat any other team on any given day. And this, is why people love sports.

Athlete Spotlight: Cassie Pruzin

 

Indiana All-Star, participant in the North/South All-Star game, All-State Selection, McDonald’s All-American nominee… and she chose to play Division III basketball. Surprised? Well, Cassie Pruzin decided there was a lot more to her than basketball and she wanted to take advantage of everything that DePauw University had to offer. Don’t get me wrong; just because she was doing many other things, basketball never went away. In college, Cassie was, along with many other honors, ranked second in school history in career three pointers made and attempted, named an All-American and was a part of the 2007 National Championship team. So let’s find out why Division III was the perfect place for her:

What schools from other divisions were interested in you/did you consider going to?
Throughout my high school career, my coach prepped me to be a Division 1 athlete. I was sent to many camps and spoke with many Division 1 college coaches. I dreamed of going to the University of Notre Dame but soon realized my talent and size was not good enough to make it at ND. I started to be more realistic and started narrowing in on mid-major schools in the Midwest. I basically ruled out schools located anywhere besides the Midwest because if I played I wanted my family to be able to attend my games. I got looks from schools such as Bowling Green, Ball State, Akron, Toledo, Butler, Western Michigan, etc. I’d say the MAC conference was recruiting me the hardest but I wasn’t really interested. My junior year of high school, I decided I really wanted to go Butler. I went on an official visit and to a couple games, but when it came down to it they said I was too small (not strong enough). It broke my heart and I decided basketball wasn’t for me until I found out about DePauw.

Why did you choose to play at DePauw instead?
Like I said before, I wanted to go to Butler University, and when I found out I couldn’t I was lost and unsure of what was ahead of me. I put a halt on the recruiting process and stopped making visits to schools. In my mind, I was over basketball. Until my brother convinced me to meet Coach Huffman at DePauw University, I was going to be just a student at Indiana University or Miami of Ohio. I fell in love with DePauw’s campus and the feeling I had when I was there. I realized that if I went to DePauw, I could have a satisfying and complete college experience.
One of the main reasons I did not like any school in the MAC was because of the lack of academia. If I could no longer play basketball, I did not know if any of the schools in the MAC would be a fit for me academically or socially. I knew DePauw was for me because it was a school I could see myself enjoying even if I decided to end my basketball career. Also, I knew DePauw had a great basketball program and we had a chance to be very competitive in Division 3.

What have you been able to be involved in at DePauw outside of basketball?
Throughout my time at DePauw, I was an active member of Alpha Phi sorority. I was the Director of Finance for two years, and a member of the executive counsel for one year. I was a part of student friend, a community service organization that reaches out to the unfortunate children in Greencastle. Other than that, my time was devoted to basketball and my academics, as well as making time for my friends.

What do you think have been some benefits of playing d3 instead of a higher division?
The main benefit was my education. DePauw puts a large emphasis on student-athletes and makes sure we are putting academics before our sport. This is something I think you miss out on at a D1 school. Also, I believe I had a greater opportunity of succeeding at D3. I was able to be a key member of the National Championship team and recognized as an All-American, something I could not have achieved at a D1 school. Basketball wasn’t my life. I was able to focus on other things than just basketball. Being a D3 athlete allows you to find yourself as a person, not just an athlete.

Many people say d3 is simply an extension of high school sports, how would you compare the competition levels between the two?
I do not believe d3 is an extension of high school basketball by any means. In high school, you had girls who didn’t love basketball. They played because their friends played, parents made them, or because they thought it was a fun hobby for the time being. They were not necessarily the most athletic or competitive group of people. However, college is much different. On my team, every player was the best player on her high school team. When you start creating collegiate teams, they are compiled of athletes who want to extend their career because they are superior athletes or have a strong work ethic and desire to play basketball. The level of competition is much greater. D3 athletes typically lack one essential asset that would make them a successful D1 athlete. For example, a D3 athlete may have all skills necessary but may lack height, strength, speed, or court sense. Not all high school athletes can compete at the collegiate level. The game is much faster and more competitive than it was in high school.