Jessica Shetters is just a normal college freshman.
She has classes to attend, work to get to on time and friends, movies and homework to fill the remainder of her waking hours.
The fact that Shetters’ work happens to be playing for the Oregon women’s basketball team, and many of the friends are teammates or athletes on other Oregon teams, doesn’t mean the college thing is any easier for her.
“Sometimes the regular students don’t understand the level of work that we have to put in,” Shetters said. “They think ‘Oh, you’re on scholarship, you have everything paid for.’ Well, you kind of have to work to keep that scholarship, and it’s a lot of work.”
Basketball isn’t all work for Shetters. She loves the sport that she’s played since she was a little girl, but since the move to Eugene, the Duck program has shown Shetters that she needs to be easily adaptable and has a lot to learn.
There have been a few tough transitions in the Portland native’s young collegiate career.
She had to adapt to being away from her home and mother and living in close quarters with another person. For the first time, she’s playing against and living near people close in stature to her 6-foot-6 frame.
At Portland’s Wilson High School and in the Portland Interscholastic League, Shetters was heads above her competition and her classmates. She was one of three prep recruits to be the nation’s tallest freshmen this season.
“Being tall is great; I like attention,” Shetters said. “But I wasn’t always like that. I used to be so self-conscious about how tall I was and how people would look at me. I think just coming to college and being around people that are taller than me, especially athletes, has really helped me just be comfortable with myself and everything.
“When I came here, my teammates were only a couple inches shorter than me and (physically) bigger than me. Just playing with them in practice every day, that was a huge challenge.”
Shetters is the second-tallest player — behind 6-foot-7 Stefanie Kasperski, who played from 1986 to 1990 — in Oregon history. She was also the first Oregon high school recruit to sign with the Ducks since recent graduate Kourtney Shreve made the move to Eugene in 1999.
Shetters was also thrust into the spotlight earlier than head coach Bev Smith would have liked because of an injury to senior Catherine Kraayeveld. Although Kraayeveld has been sidelined from practice for much of the season, Shetters still has the senior nearby as a resource.
“Cat’s been like a mentor to me,” Shetters said. “Not just on the court, but off the court and how she presents herself. She’s definitely a role model for me. It’s nice to see somebody who’s similar to you and be able to watch them.”
Kraayeveld knows how nerve-wracking it can be to play as a freshman. In her first season, she played in all but five of Oregon’s games, albeit in a limited role.
“I just tried to encourage her and be a positive influence on her,” Kraayeveld said. “She’s played a lot coming in as a freshman and that can be hard sometimes.”
Shetters is just making her way right now. Her mom Teri Shetters still lives in Portland and attends all of Oregon’s home games. Her older sister, Jenny Shetters, is in touch regularly by phone.
“Between her and my mom, they probably hear all of my problems,” Jessica Shetters said. “She’s just somebody that I can vent to about things that are bothering me and stuff like that, because she’s been through it.”
Jenny Shetters is in her fourth year playing on the women’s basketball team at New Mexico. Although the sisters grew up together on the softball field, they rarely played basketball together because of their age difference. Now, Jenny Shetters is regularly involved in her sister’s basketball days.
“It’s kind of hard because we’re so far away,” Jenny Shetters said. “I tried to help her know what she was getting into. She tells me what’s going on and how her team is doing. We talk a lot.”
Jessica Shetters’ first season hasn’t been all hard work and no fun. Shetters started her first collegiate game in Oregon’s annual Papé Jam in December, playing in front of her hometown crowd at the Rose Garden. Overall, she has started in 11 games.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous in my entire life,” Shetters said of her first start. “I can’t even describe it, I was so nervous. My hands were sweating so bad I thought I wasn’t going to be able to catch the ball. The minute the jump ball went up, the nerves just went away, but sitting in the locker room, listening to Bev’s pre-game speech, that was intense.”
Besides starting as a freshman, other unexpected things have happened during Shetters’ time in Eugene. Former opponent Cicely Oaks, who played for PIL rival Grant High School, is now a teammate and a friend.
Oaks and Shetters played against each other dating back to Amateur Athletic Union teams in middle school. The first and only time they took the court as teammates before wearing University of Oregon jerseys was in Oregon jerseys for the annual Oregon-Washington all-star game.
“In high school, her attitude was a little sketchy,” Oaks said. “We knew we could kind of piss her off and get her out of her game. Strategy was just to piss her off basically.
“Now, she’s matured a lot. I think she sees that she can be a good player, so she’s putting the effort into sucking stuff up and just becoming better all around. I think college had a lot to do with it. She sees the bigger picture so she’s changing her ways a little bit.”
Shetters’ older sister agreed that the Oregon freshman has matured since her high school days not so long ago. Jessica Shetters realizes it herself.
“It’s been definitely a learning experience,” Shetters said. “There’s been some down moments and definitely some up moments. It’s all about keeping your head up.”