Tamika Nurse is focused on the present.
For now that includes attending classes and finishing out spring term as a junior at the University. The former starting point guard is still absorbing the decision that she is no longer a member of the women’s basketball team.
She reflected on her three-year career as a Duck Monday night in a telephone interview coming a week after coach Bev Smith announced Nurse wouldn’t be returning for the 2008-09 season.
“I felt like I did a lot of growing at Oregon and it was a good environment for me,” Nurse said. “Now that I have to switch I need to find an environment where I can continue that growth as a person and as a basketball player.”
Smith has chosen not to go into specifics on the decision, citing student privacy laws. Reached Tuesday by phone, Smith declined further comment, referring all questions to the statement she released last week.
Nurse has yet to fully engulf herself in the process of finding a new school. When Nurse does, she will look for a school where she can contribute, either as a starter or a reserve. Most of her family lives on the East Coast and Nurse said she’ll consider going closer to home.
Her parents still live in her hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada – an hour away from the border of Buffalo and 2 1/2 hours from the Detroit-Windsor border. Her aunt, Raquel Nurse, lives in New Jersey with her aunt’s husband, NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb. Another aunt lives in Florida.
She is unable to transfer within the Pacific-10 Conference, as a conference rule requires a player to miss two years – one year sitting out and one year of playing eligibility. Nurse has already played three years at Oregon, so she would have to appeal the ruling and Smith told Nurse she would contest it.
The reason why Nurse is willing to transfer and wait a year due to transfer rules to continue her college career is simple, she says.
“I play this game because I love it. I play it because I couldn’t imagine my life without it. I’ve done this for so long it’s become kind of ingrained in who I am,” she said. “Basketball has given me so many things and it’s provided so many experiences and I’ve met so many amazing people through it.”
Nurse had met with coaches for end-of-the-year meetings, and when she left town for spring break she says she had no idea this was coming. After spring break ended, Nurse returned to Eugene and met with the Oregon coaches. It was decided that she would take a break away from the team while her future with the program was determined.
Nurse missed the team’s banquet and didn’t participate in spring practices. Her last participation with the team came in a morning weightlifting session the Monday after spring break.
Nurse said she had three meetings with coaches after spring break. The last meeting with Smith and future Oregon assistant coach Velaida Harris is when the Oregon head coach told Nurse that she would not be coming back. Nurse declined to reveal the exact reason she was provided for her exit, but said it wasn’t related to academics or a violation of team rules.
The announcement of Nurse’s exit by Smith, and a subsequent interview with the Oregon coach, suggested a lack of commitment on the guard’s part.
“I think going forward we really feel like we have a group of young women who are committed to what we want to do,” Smith told the Emerald last week.
Nurse offered a different opinion.
“I felt like I gave 100 percent when I was out there,” a choked-up Nurse said. “I wasn’t perfect and I didn’t do everything right, but I felt like I did what I could.”
Junior struggles
This last season was unlike anything Nurse imagined following the way she closed out her sophomore season. She put together back-to-back games with the Los Angeles schools in consecutive home wins over UCLA and USC that placed Oregon in position for a berth in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. She posted 22 points and five assists against the Bruins and 16 points, six rebounds and four assists versus the Trojans.
Nurse ended the season with averages of 9.2 points, 3.3 assists and 2.0 rebounds and was optimistic about her junior season.
But expectations never met reality.
She failed to reach double-figure scoring until the 10th game of the season and lost her starting spot on Dec. 18, 2007 to Micaela Cocks. Nurse eventually regained her starting spot against Stanford on Feb. 7 and played a season-high 37 minutes.
Nurse had 10 or more points in three of Oregon’s last four regular season games and five or more rebounds in three of the last five contests, yet still ended the season with averages of 7.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists – nearly all down from her sophomore year.
“I don’t know if I can pinpoint why I struggled, but I did,” Nurse said. “I figured that a lot of kids go through times where they struggle and a lot of people go through seasons where they struggle.”
She also played through a sprained left shoulder suffered on Oregon’s road trip to Los Angeles. The injury occurred in the UCLA contest, and she missed most of the game, but made a surprise return the next game at USC.
“I felt like at that point my team needed me to do that and if I didn’t feel like I could have done that I probably wouldn’t have, but we were shorthanded with Nia (Jackson) hurt and so I did what we needed at that time,” Nurse said.
Making the switch
The Canadian came to Eugene in 2005 from St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario. A shooting guard growing up, Oregon coaches decided to transition Nurse into the point guard spot.
As a freshman, Nurse backed up Kaela Chapdelaine in a contrast of styles with up-tempo play of the former and methodical, half-court play of the latter. Nurse moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore.
“I think I got into the mindset where this is where I was going to play and this is where I could help,” Nurse said. “If that’s what was needed it was kind of like ‘We’ll make the switch and get it done.’ I was never a shooter. I was always a penetrator.”
Making the next level
Nurse, who is dating former Oregon star Malik Hairston, says where he lands professionally will have no impact on what school she chooses. She hopes to have a new school picked out well in advance of the NBA Draft in late June.
“I’m going to find a place that’s right for me,” Nurse said. “Malik, his situation, where he is will have nothing to do with that. We’ll be fine regardless of where he’s going to be so I just need to find a spot that’s good for me and where I can be happy for the next two years on my own pretty much.”
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