At Oregon’s women’s basketball media day, freshman guard Laura Stanulis wore a No. 15 Ducks jersey without a name on the back. (She’s listed as No. 3 in the Oregon roster.) No matter — her teammates and coaches know who she is.
The 5-foot-9-inch guard, formally added to the roster on Sunday, was a four-sport athlete at Sunset High School in Portland and a McDonald’s All-American nominee in basketball.
Oregon Daily Emerald: It’s been a whirlwind of a week for you, hasn’t it?
Laura Stanulis: It has, it has. First week of practice with the team — it’s very exciting. I’m just so glad for the opportunity to even try out.
ODE: How did that opportunity present itself?
LS: I have a club coach (Jason Fawcett), and he made a phone call over the summer to see if there was any room or any possibility that the roster wasn’t closed. I talked to the coaching staff over the summer and I came to open gyms every week over the summer, getting to know the team and their style of play. That was another reason I wanted to come — I really wanted to get up and down. It’s a great coaching staff.
ODE: Did you have your heart set on attending Oregon?
LS: I did. I honestly didn’t know for a while where I was going to go or if I was going to go to a small school. After knowing that I could try out for the team, I just had my heart set on that. I just trained all summer.
ODE: Were you a fan of the school before you enrolled?
LS: I’ve always been an Oregon fan. My whole family supports Oregon State. Ever since I was little, I just always liked Oregon better than Oregon State. My mom’s whole side of the family went (to school there).
ODE: You’ve had to get quite a lot of running in to prepare for head coach Paul Westhead’s system, haven’t you?
LS: You do. I’ve trained over the summer. It’s a lot of running, but it’s definitely worth it.
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Q & A with women’s basketball walk-on Laura Stanulis
Daily Emerald
October 14, 2009
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