Taelor Karr: Basketball Travels

If you look down the bench of the Oregon women’s basketball team, you would see, among the team, Taelor Karr. And while Oregon is not the first college Taelor has been at, she never gave up on the sport of basketball.
                At an early age, Taelor always wanted to spend time with her older brother, so anything he was doing, she tried to do. If he was playing sports, so was she. He ended up introducing her to basketball and she says, “It was just something I picked up pretty easily.” Taelor grew up in a small town in Kansas, so when it came time to choose a college to attend, she chose to stay close to home and attend Kansas State University. At the time, she believed that Kansas State was a good fit for her and she “really liked the fact that her family could watch her play.”

                But after Taelor’s sophomore year, Kansas State threw her a curveball. They told her that they would not be renewing her scholarship, and this forced her to find somewhere else to go. Taelor searched the country for a school that would suit her where she could get a good education and continue playing basketball.

 In the end, Taelor ended up choosing to attend Gonzaga University. When I asked her why she chose Gonzaga she responded by telling me, “I had many schools contacting me during the process of trying to find where to go, but from the first time I talked to Coach Graves on the phone, I knew I wanted to go to GU.  Then, after I went on my visit and met the team, the rest of the coaching staff, and saw the campus, it was a done deal.”

Taelor went to Gonzaga expecting to have to sit out a season due to NCAA rules, but to her, and many other peoples surprise, she was granted immediate eligibility and stepped in to fill a big role at Gonzaga. Taelor first game for Gonzaga was a big one, as she entered the school just after star point guard Courtney Vandersloot left the school. Anyone who came in after Courtney knew they had big shoes to fill.

I asked Taelor how she felt about being compared to Courtney and she told me, “It was pretty funny that people thought I looked like CV and were asking for my autograph in stores. I knew I would have big shoes to fill since I was coming in the year after she left, but I was confident in myself and my abilities.  She’s a great player so I didn’t think of it as having to be just like Courtney. I just went out and tried to do what I knew I was good at.”

This confidence led Taelor to become one of the best three point shooters in Gonzaga history, and she became a leader on and off the court.

Following a heartbreaking loss in the NCAA tournament, Taelor followed her dream of playing professional basketball and was signed to a team in France. “Playing professional basketball was a dream come true! It was something that I had always dreamed about and wanted to do since I was a little girl, so for me to actually have the opportunity to fulfill that dream was very special to me. It’s such a great experience to be able to play a sport in another country and learn about their culture. It’s cool to be able to broaden your horizons and see how other countries live and function.”

After one season in France Taelor came back to the United States and moved to Oregon. With this move, Taelor followed Coach Kelly Graves to his new coaching position at the University of Oregon. She is currently the Graduate assistant coach at Oregon and is pursuing a Division one coaching career.

Taelor does not believe that she would have the opportunities she has today if she did not transfer to Gonzaga. “Gonzaga helped open up a lot of doors with meeting new people and making new connections that I wouldn’t have otherwise.  It helped me get my passion back for the game and want to pursue playing overseas. It brought me and Coach Graves into contact and now I have formed a great relationship with him and am working for him at Oregon.”

Taelor has dedicated her whole life to basketball and cannot wait to see what the future holds for her. She has had “the time of her life.”

 

 

 

Keani Albanez: 3 Points for the Cali Girl

                As of January 11, 2015, Keani Albanez stands at number seven all time on three pointers made at Gonzaga University, just eight three pointers short of sixth place. In many Zags fans’ minds, there is no doubt that Keani will reach at least fourth on the list before she graduates in the spring. While Keani’s play often seems effortless to many fans, the amount of time, effort, and work she has put in to get to where she is now would baffle most people.

                Keani started playing basketball in first grade. In the beginning of her basketball career, Keani was coached by her dad and says that “she loved being able to spend more time with him.” Unlike many kids growing up now who look up to players who everyone thinks is the best, Keani looked up to many local stars in the “805” – an area of California in which the area code is 805. Keani is very proud of the 805, which includes Santa Barbara, where she grew up. From first grade until now, Keani has been dedicated to basketball, and all of the work she has put in over the years has paid off. 

                She grew up playing with and against her sisters, and by the time she was fourteen, Keani was ranked as the Best Player in the Country. Being ranked so high led to Keani being recruited by many schools, and her freshmen year of high school she committed to play basketball at the University of Southern California. Little did she know at the time, but the coaches to whom she committed to at USC would be replaced before she got there. Once the coaching change happened, Keani decided that USC was not the place for her, and she went in search of the perfect school.

                The perfect school ended up being Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington. Although Keani’s senior season at Buena High School ended in a heartbreaking loss to their rivals in the Championship Game, Keani , who was then the seventy second ranked player in the country, packed her bags and was off to start the next part of her journey at one of the top women’s basketball schools in the country.

                This all seemed well and good - until the one thousand three hundred miles between Keani and her family started getting to her. She had been right by her family her entire life, and now being two states away was taking its toll. At one point during her freshmen year, Keani told her parents that she wanted to come home. She was too far away from them and was having trouble transitioning from being one of the best players on her team growing up to “not being the best at all.”

                After talking with her parents, a little fan was pointed out in the crowd. There was a little blonde girl in the stands who was not just cheering for the Zags, she was cheering for Keani. It was at this time that Keani realized that she was not playing entirely for herself or her team, but she was playing for the fans, and whether she played in the game or not, her fans always cheered her on. After this turn of events, Keani started fighting for the “nitty gritty playing time,” and at the end of the season, she averaged eight minutes a game.

                Keani has since become a fan favorite, and one fan told me, "she brought 805 balling to the 509." On and off the court, Keani is now viewed as a role model by many young girls. Whether it's:  a shot she makes, a steal she gets, a picture she takes after the game, or something she says to a fan, Keani is always giving back to her fans. One fan told me, "she helps kids like myself reach for higher goals." Keani takes the time to build relationships with her fans, and many of these relationships extend outside the walls of the gym. Moreover, she is one of the few players around the country who truly respects her fans as much as they respect her. 

                While the distance from her family was hard her first two years at Gonzaga, she is used to it now. She says that, “Playing a lot of games in California helps.” So naturally Keani’s favorite places to play are in Southern California so that her family and friends can be at the games - and so she can get In n’ Out after the games.

                As her college career winds down, Keani took a look back on what basketball has done for her. When asked if basketball had gotten her through something she didn’t think she would have gotten through without it, she responded simply by saying, “Life.” Basketball shaped the person she is today and opened up countless doors and opportunities for her. Basketball gave her one big giant family consisting of all of her teammates and fans.

                   Being a veteran of the game now, Keani would say that, “she’s getting perty old.” While Keani is currently unsure of what the future holds for her, she said, “To be drafted would be amazing. Anywhere they send me would be amazing. I may play with the Mexican National team this summer.” Other than that, Keani is just going to play her game and trust that God will lead her to the right place.

"All is fair in love and basketball."

-Keani Albanez