Two weeks ago, senior Rita Kollo engaged in a game of pickup basketball with her teammates, elated at the chance of playing with them one last time.
“I was so nervous. I hadn’t had that experience for a good four, five months,” Kollo said with a laugh.
Though the season ended three months ago, Kollo was continuing to work her way back from a broken right foot that sidelined her for all but one exhibition game. A transfer from Oklahoma State, Kollo sat out the 2007-08 season because of NCAA transfer rules; by missing every regular-season game from this past season, she technically leaves Oregon without having recorded a basketball statistic.
“She’s done everything that she can other than being out there with us,” junior guard Taylor Lilley told the Emerald in January. “Mentally and emotionally, she has always been there for us, and we always see her on the sideline working her butt off. Vocally, she has still been a leader.”
Her right foot now “100 percent,” Kollo leaves the University preparing for what comes next: a career in professional basketball.
Kollo has signed with French agent Sebastian Dekeirel – the same agent signed by former Oregon guard Kaela Chapdelaine – who has been gauging interest in her from several European professional club teams. Kollo is specifically looking at French, Italian and Spanish professional leagues. Though she has received interest from several teams, nothing has been finalized.
“In my case, it’s way more difficult (to attract interest) because of my injury. I didn’t have stats,” Kollo said. “They want proof that I’m a good player.”
Helping her in realizing her professional dreams is former Oregon women’s basketball coach Bev Smith. Smith, whose contract was not renewed after this past season, has written letters of reference and spoken with coaches on Kollo’s behalf.
“I’m trying to just be an advisor for her and do whatever I can to talk to people about her ability,” Smith said. “Obviously, not having played this year, it’s hard to explain.”
Smith has deep connections in Italian basketball circles, having played and coached in Italy for 15 years. When the Oregon women undertook a four-game, 10-day summer exhibition tour of the country in August, Smith received interest from some of the club teams the Ducks played.
Though women’s basketball fans did not see Kollo’s skill set on display, Smith believes that Kollo’s professional future is very bright.
“She’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever had the privilege of being around,” she said.
A native of Budapest, Hungary, Kollo’s basketball odyssey has taken her through Colby Community College in Kansas (two years), Oklahoma State (one year) and Oregon.
“It was very diverse,” she said. “I got the chance to travel around to many different states.”
Now, she finally gets to go home to Austria. Kollo’s parents, Pal and Ibolya, moved to the town of Graz from Budapest after Kollo moved to the U.S. She will enjoy the company of friends and family, work out and field contract offers until she finds an amenable arrangement.
Kollo graduates next week with a degree in economics, which she plans to put into good use once her playing days are truly over.
“She has, I think, a pretty good sense of balance in her life,” Smith said. “She is a basketball player, but that isn’t just the end.”
And where most would look at Kollo’s career with a certain disdain at the lack of productive stats, Kollo wouldn’t trade her Oregon experience for the world.
“You just really remember the good people, the amazing opportunities, the school, the friends the supporters – everything,” she said. “It was so amazing to have. I’m going to miss Eugene.”
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The force from the bench
Daily Emerald
June 4, 2009
Mike Perrault
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