The attraction of playing in the Pacific-10 Conference, one of the nation’s largest conferences, extended beyond the basketball court.
Playing on the highest level of collegiate basketball, dynamic and quick point guard Tamika Nurse welcomes the attention.
Naturally then, off the court she is pursuing a broadcast career, which was a big reason why she chose the University of Oregon.
“For broadcast journalism this is the best school on the west coast – there’s no question about it,” Nurse said.
The 5-foot-9 native of Hamilton, Ontario, enters the 2005-06 season as Oregon’s lone freshman. She gets her first experience tonight as Oregon plays the British Columbia in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. at McArthur Court.
Nurse played for the Canadian Junior National Team for two consecutive years, including the FIBA Under-19 World Championships as she helped them finish ninth.
She’s considered by Oregon head coach Bev Smith as one of Oregon’s fastest guards in years. The most important thing is effectively running the team and not solely relying on quickness, Nurse said.
“I think my speed is a weapon,” Nurse said. “It needs to be harnessed at times, but I want to use it to my advantage.”
Or adding more options, assistant coach Phil Brown said.
“She has flat out speed, but she’s going to need to get some other gears in there as well and know when to go and know when to pull it up and pull it back and recognize the defense’s numbers back and we’re in a half-court situation,” Brown said.
Nurse has plenty of help with a veteran lineup and coaches including new assistant coach Brown. Brown has worked with 15 current or former WNBA players, including guards Penny Taylor and Belinda Snell and current Oregon players Eleanor Haring and Gabrielle Richards.
According to Brown, getting used to this level of basketball takes time.
“Part of it is trial and error experience,” Brown said. “Just getting out there and the day-to-day environment of playing at the top Division I level.”
Senior guards Brandi Davis, Chelsea Wagner and Kedzie Gunderson can help provide a solid learning environment.
“I think Tamika is going to be a great player,” Davis said. “She’s going to mature a lot here and she’s going to have a great career here. By us being able to help her out with the little things and stuff like that … it’s only going to help her in the long run.”
Oregon’s roster has a veteran feel. The team has an opportunity to develop chemistry within McArthur Court’s confines with five of its first six official games and two exhibition games at home. The only away game is a Nov. 22 trip to play the University of Portland.
In December, Oregon has no home games, playing road games against Cynthia Cooper’s Prairie View A&M at the Rose Garden, Saint Mary’s, Idaho State, UCLA, USC and Colorado. It is a schedule designed to prepare Oregon for a possible NCAA Tournament.
Last season, Oregon had a 21-win season and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, beating TCU before losing to eventual NCAA champion Baylor.
“We all expect to win,” Davis said. “I know that’s going to come with a price. It’s going to be a lot of hard work for us, and I think we have great team chemistry this year and I think we’re capable of doing something big.”
Davis is a versatile three-point threat and adept scorer. She is third all-time at Oregon in three-pointers with 145 and was Oregon’s fourth-leading scorer at 7.6 points per game last season.
The three other Oregon seniors should also play significant roles. Wagner returns after her 2004-05 season was cut to 15 games due to a knee injury. She shot 40 percent on three-pointers and averaged 8.8 points. Gunderson is a standout defender who has started 47 of her last 57 games at Oregon. Yadili Okwumabua enters the season after undergoing offseason knee surgery. She’s expected to have a larger role after Cathrine Kraayeveld and Andrea Bills graduated.
Technically, Oregon has a fifth senior in Jamie Hawkins, but she will redshirt this season after transferring from Boise State.
Oregon’s talented underclassmen are experienced and should make a significant impact with four juniors and three sophomores.
Kristen Forristall emerged toward the middle of last season as eight of her 11 starts were in Pac-10 Conference play. Forristall earned recognition as a member of the Pac-10 All-Freshman team by averaging 5.5 points and 3.2 rebounds.
Junior Carolyn Ganes and sophomore Richards are considered low-post players, but each has the outside touch of a guard.
Ganes gained experience over the summer with the Canadian National Team. She returns healthy after being a redshirt in 2004-05 and dealing with ankle injuries and back problems the year before. Ganes shot 41 percent overall in 2003-04 and 84 percent from the free-throw line. Richards shot 44 percent overall and 35 percent from three-point range in 2004-05.
Now in her third season, 6-foot-6 junior Jessica Shetters should factor in as well after practicing against Kraayeveld and Bills the last two seasons. She improved her strength this summer to take advantage of her large frame.
Oregon also expects contributions from juniors Haring and Cicely Oaks as well as sophomore Kaela Chapdelaine.
Put together, Oregon has a blend of basketball experience touching all parts of the globe.
“Everybody on this team brings something different,” Nurse said.
Coaching changes
Nurse is one piece of the multicultural feel to the women’s basketball team that includes players from three countries. It extends to their coaching staff, where native Australian Brown joins Smith’s staff after assistants Allison and Mike McNeill left after last season.
Having 20 years experience at the Australian Institute of Sport, Brown gets his first Division I experience this season. The adjustment as part of an evolving coaching staff with Selena Ho also joining is going smoothly, Brown said. Peg Swadener enters her third year on staff.
Joining a team coming off a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament and veteran laden, Brown is optimistic.
“We’ve got speed. We got some size,” Brown said. “We got some experience and I think we’ll be able to over time … bring that into a very cohesive unit.”

[email protected]