Jessie Shetters arrived in Eugene the summer before her freshman year and stopped by McArthur Court for open gym time. Members of the Oregon women’s basketball team were scrimmaging and coach Bev Smith suggested Shetters join them.
Shetters thought to herself, “Oh my god, really? Is she serious?” Shetters matched up with Cathrine Kraayeveld, a current member of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, and one of the top post players in Oregon history.
“She probably blocks me about four times and after that scrimmage I called my mom crying,” Shetters said. “I was like ‘mom, the girls are so big out here, and I just can’t do this.’ I think that’s the moment that I realized ‘Holy crap. This is Division I.’”
Four years have passed and Shetters is set to graduate with a sociology degree. The 6-foot-6-inch center has been a reliable rebounder and defensive presence for the Ducks. Although she missed 11 games due to a back injury, Shetters has fond memories of her senior season with close ties to teammates and a winning season marked by an appearance in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
Oregon Daily Emerald: What’s it going to be like to be done with school and earn that degree?
Jessie Shetters: It’s going to be great. I’ve never really been a ‘I love school’ kind of person. It’s really exciting just to be done and not have to worry about going to class and writing papers anymore.
ODE: What are your post-college plans?
JS: That’s a really good question. I don’t really know. In terms of going straight away and finding a job, I don’t really know if that’s something that I want to do. I’ve been thinking of going overseas and trying to play over there. I have a couple friends that play for the Eugene Chargers that have been trying to convince me to go overseas. I have that opportunity. I’ve talked to a coach in Australia, where El (Haring’s) from actually. Not anything big, but maybe a couple contacts with him so I’m thinking that playing overseas might be in my future.
ODE: Have you thought about what you might use your sociology degree for?
JS: I’d like to be a substance abuse counselor. I’ve taken a lot of the SAPP classes and it’s something that interests me. A lot of positions now require a masters and I’m not ready to go back to school right away. I can work my way up through internships and that kind of stuff, but obviously, I kind of need a job as well, (to) pay for things (laughing). That’s why I think playing overseas is kind of appealing ’cause I could play over there a couple years and then make some money.
ODE: How much would it mean to you to be able to continue playing basketball after being accustomed to playing at Oregon the last four years?
JS: I think it would mean a lot. I know from my sister’s personal experience. She didn’t play basketball after college and I think that, in a way, she regretted that a little bit. I really don’t want to follow in those footsteps. I know that if I didn’t play or if I didn’t at least try to play, I think that I would regret that. It’s kind of a win-win situation. If I end up going somewhere and I don’t like it, at least I tried it. I can come home. I’m not obligated to stay there for a full year.
ODE: Is it going to be different to not have that structure of Oregon basketball, of being part of that program, of training for a basketball season next year?
JS: Yeah, it definitely is. Even this spring, it’s even been a big change. I’m so used to having workouts to go to or having to go lift weights and that kind of stuff. I’ve been having trouble finding stuff to fill the time to be completely honest, just because I have spent so much of my life always having to go to practice and that kind of stuff. I definitely think it’s going to be a big change, but I definitely think being on a team helps you too, just because you are used to having a structure and being organized and having to be organized and that kind of stuff. So I think that’s going to help me.
ODE: How meaningful was it to have the winning season (17-14) like you did for your final year?
JS: It meant a lot. It’s never an easy thing to go out your senior season not having a good season. So it was really important, especially since I didn’t get to play in a lot of the games, it just really meant a lot that the team was able to be successful and I could still be a part of that.
ODE: How much did that WNIT experience mean to you, just having that chance to play a couple more games?
JS: It was great. I was hoping for it the whole entire time – sitting on the bench – during Pac-10 games, thinking ‘please make it to the postseason. I just want to play. I don’t care how much I play. I just want to be able to put my jersey on.’ When I got hurt, I wasn’t ready to hang up my jersey for Oregon. It meant a lot. Even though I didn’t contribute as much as I had in the past, I think that it was really special for me to be able to put on my jersey one more time and to actually be ready to hang it up.
ODE: When did it sink in after the Wyoming game that it was the end of your Oregon career?
JS: A lot of us barely made it up to the locker room before we started crying. The initial shock happened right away. I know that we – the five seniors – spent the first minutes of being in the locker room in the bathroom crying with each other. That’s the kind of initial shock. I don’t think it’s set in completely yet because I’m still able to be around the girls and around the team. I pop my head in for individuals. Before I got hurt, I was able to play with the girls still. It’s kind of sunk in, but at the same time, I think that’s going to take me actually leaving Eugene and not being around the team and the coaches for it to really sink in.
ODE: Is this one of the most memorable seasons, considering all the adversity this team faced and the way you were able to rally around each other and really do something that you can be proud of?
JS: It definitely was. This is the closest I’ve ever been to a team in my entire life. We may not hang out together all the time, but this is the closest I’ve ever felt to every single person on the team. That’s what I think made it so special is that we were able to take so many difficult things that happened during the season and we just pushed through that and still had a successful season.
ODE: What memories do you have of the 2005 NCAA Tournament run?
JS: That’s a tough one because you are so super excited to be in the arena. You get the NCAA pin. You feel like you’re a celebrity a little bit because you’re passing all these security guards. Like hey, you’re a player, this is great. I think it’s a little bit different when you’re able to actually play because that was my sophomore year and I didn’t play a lot and sitting on the bench cheering is one thing, but being able to actually play in a game is a whole other experience and so I think that that’s why that this season was a little bit more special to me. Number one because I was closer to my teammates than in previous years and, two, because I was able to contribute to the success of the team.
ODE: What are you going to miss most from being roommates with Cicely Oaks and being around her all the time?
JS: I think I’m going to miss laughing for five minutes straight at nothing … She’ll find something that’s really funny that I could not tell you why she’s laughing, but she just starts laughing and you can’t help but laugh and so we’ll sit and laugh at each other for five minutes, but we don’t really know what we’re laughing at. So I think that’s one of the things that I’m going to miss the most about Cis is that no matter what the situation is we’re always going to laugh.
ODE: What would you say is your welcome to Division I moment when you were first coming to Oregon?
JS: It was before I even played a game. I came down in the summer before my freshman year and the girls were playing open gym or whatever. It was my first day being in Eugene and Bev says ‘Oh, you can pl
ay with the girls’ or whatever. I’m like ‘Oh my god, like, really? Is she serious?’ So I get in the game and being in high school and being 6-6, you don’t really get blocked very often. I didn’t think I’d been blocked by anybody in probably like three years and so I come in and I’m scrimmaging and of course Cathrine Kraayeveld is guarding me. I’m sitting there like ‘This is great, super.’ She probably blocks me about four times and after that scrimmage I called my mom crying. I was like ‘mom, the girls are so big out here and I just can’t do this.’ I think that’s the moment that I realized ‘Holy crap this is Division I.’
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