Interview to Katelyn Murray

Rookie of the week in December 2005; 3^rd among the Atlantic-10 rookies in scoring; 1^st with 35 three-pointers; 33 steals and 7.4 points per game average. These are only a few numbers that branded Katelyn Murray’s performance in the last basketball season.

Katelyn arrived at Saint Bonaventure University one year ago after playing for the Trinity basketball team in her high school years. At this time already, Katelyn showed that she had the skills and talent to play important matches and in higher leagues: the nomination to the All-State first team in Class AA for 2004-05 by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is a concrete example of her potential.

Statistics speak clear: Katelyn Murray is one of those players that you had better observe carefully.

However, beyond these numbers, there is something more about this 19-year-old player from Harrisburg (PA). And this something is her passion.

First of all, a great passion for this sport: how she spent the last summer clearly stresses her commitment to basketball. In fact, during the off-season, she pointed out that she couldn’t stay away from basketball. Thus, instead of taking some days off, as recommended by her coach (“I did once or twice but I simply can’t,” she commented), she took part in the Empire State Games with her teammate Erica Schiefen and under the directions of her Saint-Bonaventure coach, Jim Crowley. “We are all very dedicated people. We love playing,” she underlined.

Secondly, Katelyn is also a “passionate person”, as she describes herself. Before each match she usually spends some time alone, focusing on her breath: “I try to get motivated as much as possible [...] I try to clear my mind from everything that goes on in the day and focus on the game,” she said.

You couldn’t expect anything different from someone who considers Larry Bird as her model: hard work and a passionate behavior.

This passion for the basketball has been running through Katelyn’s veins since her birth. In fact, both her mother and father were basketball players, in Franklin and Marshal College respectively. As Katelyn suggested, her parents had a central role in her development as an athlete, setting an example for her to follow. In fact, they helped her to push herself harder and harder throughout her career and to develop her commitment to basketball. That is also why she ended with playing basketball after trying other different sports.

Moreover, this passion and enthusiasm are two extremely important qualities in a guard. In a team, in fact, the guard is the player who usually orchestrates the game by knowing perfectly the attitudes and movements of each teammate. As a consequence, during this pre-season, Katelyn spent long time studying the team’s dynamics and focusing on how all the other players move on the court.

Beyond this role as a pilot member, Katelyn is also aware of her role as a shooter: during the off-season she practiced her shooting skills in order to match - or even surpass - last year’s results.

Katelyn also pointed out that this year trainings were more focused on each girl’s necessity. In fact often, before or after the practice, the coach met each player for an individual session in order to reinforce all the different things that need to be improved. Katelyn said how these individual sessions helped her to better some aspects of her game.

Moreover, with a year more on her shoulders, Katelyn feels that her game and skills have undoubtedly improved. This is also the result of a more focused training with her coach that helped her to become much more confident.

Not only does this feeling concern Katelyn, but she also feels that the whole team has been strengthened with confidence from last season: “last year we were still younger and we were still new to the program” she explained. Furthermore, along with experience, the team has also gained a stronger leadership beside a cohesive and very close group of players: “we long well in and out the court. It is a lot of fun playing with them”.

The matches schedule is ready. Katelyn is ready. After long weeks of trainings, now it is the time for the parquet to speak. Now it is the time for Katelyn to show once more that she is the guard her team needs to win.

The original article is published on the sport section of the Bonaventure, November 2006