They are never seen by the public. They work early in the morning when most students are sleeping or just waking up for class. Firsthand, they experience how talented women’s basketball players can be.
They are the male practice players for the Oregon women’s basketball team.
They arrive for 7:30 a.m. practices typically Monday through Wednesdays. When Oregon has home games, they help with walk-throughs on game days and in practice on Fridays.
By helping the women prepare for upcoming opponents, they are also helping dispel a common misconception that most males can play with women and hold their own. The males realized quickly how tough the competition can be, they said.
They have to challenge forward Eleanor Haring’s potent offensive game.
“No one can guard El’s turnaround jumper,” Tyler Popham said. “You can’t block it. It’s a really good shot.”
Or try and stay in front of lightning-fast point guard Tamika Nurse and wiry guard Kaela Chapdelaine.
“They’re quick and they’re hard to defend sometimes,” Luke Ross said. “It’s a lot harder than you think it is.”
They even box out physical forward Jamie Hawkins.
“Jamie’s got big, strong elbows and when she swings them around, you got to watch your nose,” Steve Amraen said.
“They are great basketball players,” team manager Brad Ficek said. “They move their feet. They work really hard for positioning.”
Male practice players help Oregon in scrimmages and drills. The guys use their physical and athletic play to help simulate the challenges Oregon sees in games by running the offenses and defenses of opposing teams.
Sometimes
it’s even more difficult, for example, to rebound against the men.
“It’s harder against the guys,” forward Carolyn Ganes said laughing. “Then once you get in the game you’re like ‘Oh my god,’ ’cause they’re just so crafty and quick and strong. It’s just like ‘you’re never going to see a girl like that.’”
In return for their time, the men receive practice gear but have to do everything athletes do to stay eligible: Take a full course load and maintain a certain GPA, but are not eligible for financial aid.
These men say their reward is a feeling of camaraderie with the team and quality workouts. Popham, Ross, Amraen, Ficek, Mak Shibuya and Richard Lee participated Tuesday morning.
The male practice players often find themselves attending women’s basketball games they might not otherwise if they weren’t involved.
“I’m definitely more drawn to it now that I’m part of it and I have a vested interest in it,” Popham said. “I care and it’s really cool to come out here and watch another team like Arizona State run the play that we ran in practice to help them out.”
Said Ganes: “They’re definitely part of us. It’s just too bad they can’t travel and experience that stuff with us.”
Coach Bev Smith remembers practicing against Oregon’s baseball team during her time at Oregon from 1978-82. She’d also go down to Gerlinger and scrimmage against men, including members of the football team.
“As a woman, you want to become the best that you can be and so you always seek to get the best competition to practice against,” Smith said. “It’s been a part of my life. It helped me become a really good basketball player, and I don’t think we should rob our players of that opportunity.”
The use of practice players has come under scrutiny lately with the NCAA committee on women’s athletics calling for a ban of male practice players, arguing it takes away opportunities for women to participate. Coaches, including Smith, have publicly expressed support for male practice players and the Emerald plans more coverage in future issues.
“I just think it creates a really unique environment within college athletics and it makes our game better and we need to keep continually getting better,” Smith said.
Kraayeveld visits
Former Oregon post Cathrine Kraayeveld stopped by to watch Oregon practice Tuesday morning.
The current forward for the WNBA’s New York Liberty had been overseas. Back in the United States, she visited with former teammates.
“It was nice to be able to come back and talk to them, just to see how everybody was doing,” Kraayeveld said.
Kraayeveld graduated after the 2005 season and without her and fellow graduate Andrea Bills, Oregon missed the postseason in 2005-06. Oregon’s survived injuries to Taylor Lilley and Jessie Shetters this season to stand at 15-11 and be in line for a postseason bid to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.
“I was following a little bit and it’s always hard when you have some injuries and things like that,” Kraayeveld said. “You always have to try and push through that.”
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