The quickness of Brandi Davis posed a challenge for any defender.
Here was Kaela Chapdelaine, just a freshman, and she had to guard Davis, an explosive offensive player during her time in Eugene.
Then it was a challenge, but now, as an experienced senior on the Oregon women’s basketball team, Chapdelaine is one of the Ducks’ best on-ball defenders.
She has sat down some of the six freshmen and shared her experience and knowledge gained from her four years in the program. In one example, she talked to a freshman who had struggled in a scrimmage and told her about when “she had to guard Brandi Davis and got my ankles broken a couple times.”
“We’ve all been freshmen,” Chapdelaine said. “We’ve all had those experiences.”
She knows the system intimately and while she says she’s trying to not be too much of a coach, Chapdelaine wants to be a good teammate and leader they can look to for guidance.
Instead of the familiar faces of Cicely Oaks, Carolyn Ganes, Jessie Shetters and Eleanor Haring, it’s a new set of players on the roster.
“It is a different feeling, but it’s fun and it’s new and exciting and I think we all go in with no inhibitions,” Chapdelaine said. “You can’t be afraid of what you don’t know and the young ones are courageous, they’re talented, they’re experienced and I think we’re confident as a group regardless of how young we are.”
Chapdelaine’s role has evolved during her college career, most recently being a scrapper, someone who collects rebounds, dives for loose balls, provides outside shooting – whatever the team needs, essentially.
She says she sees herself having a similar role this season, except she wants to be a little more consistent on the offensive end. Last year, Chapdelaine played 30.3 minutes a game – second on the team – and averaged 6.5 points, 3.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds. She shot .324 from the field and .313 from three-point range.
Chapdelaine has long been willing to sacrifice her body for loose balls and it has left an impact on her 5-foot-10 frame. At the end of last season, coach Bev Smith revealed Chapdelaine had a stress fracture in one of her vertebrae.
So Chapdelaine did, what for her, felt unusual and sat out the spring and when she went home in July did some light work and in August got back into heavy training again. The Canadian, who is from Okotoks, Alberta, has been vocal about her willingness to represent her country with the Canadian national team, but refrained from playing over the summer with the team coached by two former Oregon assistant coaches.
“It was a hard choice and it was hard to tell Mike and Allison McNeill that I wasn’t going to be playing for Canada this summer,” Chapdelaine said. “I really struggled with it, but I think for my future it was the best decision. I’m still very young as a person and I really do want to play for a long time, represent my country and do play professionally.”
The time off leaves her feeling – mentally and physically – the best she says she’s felt in a long time and “just so excited to get going.”
“It was a break I needed,” Chapdelaine said. “I just didn’t know it at the time. After the fact, I’m just very thankful that I had made that decision.”
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Jack-of-all-trades Chapdelaine ready to reprise role
Daily Emerald
October 17, 2007
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