Classes and basketball just aren’t enough.
It’s almost second nature, but her duties extend beyond just practices and games. There are the calls from sick teammates: the headaches, the pains.
For which she has the solutions. An aspirin here, some hot tea there.
And there are other things.
Rides around town. The all important trips to the mall. Relationship problems.
Anything you can think of — she is always there to turn to.
To the rest of the world, she is freshman center Gabrielle Richards.
To her teammates, “Mama Gabes” will do just fine.
“Say you’re sick, and there’s no doctors around — you would go to Mama Gabes and tell her you’re not feeling well,” sophomore Eleanor Haring said. “She would have something (for you), make you tea, something. Or if you need a ride to the mall, she’ll take you. She’ll be like your mom and get it done.”
And it’s not only off the court where Richards is getting things done and making
an impact.
She’s getting it done on the court as well, despite the fact that she is a true freshman
trying to fit in on a Division I collegiate
basketball team.
“It has been a little bit difficult to try and establish where I fit in and (what) my role (is) on the team,” Richards said. “So I struggled a bit to find that, but each game it can be different, I’ve decided. I’m trying to do what the team needs.”
And as the first 20 games indicate, those needs change from day to day. Richards has yet to start a game for the Ducks, but that has not stopped her from becoming the third-leading rebounder on the team.
Or dropping a team-high 15 points
against Arizona.
Or pulling down a team-high 11 rebounds on the road against Colorado State.
Or doing something as simple as spelling Andrea Bills or Cathrine Kraayeveld for a few minutes in a tight game.
Whatever the team needs.
In addition, the 6-foot-3 native of Seymour, Australia, isn’t particular to what part of the floor she plays on. Richards has the ability to play down low — and somewhat sheepishly admits enjoying this position — but is also quick to counter that she can step outside and play on the perimeter.
“At the moment, I’m kinda doing both,” Richards said. “At home I was more of a low-post player, and by the end of the year
(2003-04) I moved out to the perimeter and did a lot out there. So it’s kinda fun. I really enjoy doing both.”
Which doesn’t mean the two roles are without their differences.
“You have to do so much more work in the post,” Richards said. “Whereas on the perimeter, they just stand there. Posts have to run the full length of the court, guards just run from three-point line to three-point line. But I don’t really mind.”
Richards spent most of her time at the Australian Institute of Sport playing in the post, alongside fellow teammate Haring.
“Gabe has traditionally always brought leadership and rebounding, and I think she continues to bring that here at Oregon,” Haring said. “Her rebounding skills are so good, and it’s great to have her down there (in the post). She’s pretty solid, and she is getting better every day.”
Her skills near the basket propelled her to second in the Women’s National Basketball League in rebounds per game, behind only her idol, fellow WNBL star Lauren Jackson.
“(Richards) is a very important impact player from both inside and outside,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said. “She
is just going to keep getting better. She just needs to understand
the college game and use
her instincts.”
Richards was also selected
to play on the 22-and-under
Australian National Team
that placed fifth in the World Championships. The team toured Japan, China, the United States, Russia, the Czech Republic and France as part of preparation for the 22-and-under World Championships. Richards scored a personal-best 39 points against the Japanese National team.
Despite all her international experience and her knack for pulling down rebounds, Richards was not heavily recruited by Division I schools. Her short list included Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Baylor, Penn State and Oregon.
What made her decision?
“Definitely the coaches,” Richards said. “I only knew the coaches when I was looking at stuff back home, so I went through the coaches, and the coaches here obviously understand the international game of basketball. That was a fine point to me.”
Richards also had connections to Oregon through Haring — who had gone to Eugene a year earlier — but tried to keep that an
objective point.
“I tried to make sure that (Eleanor) was not part of the decision,” Richards said. “So I had to make sure that wherever I chose was somewhere where I was going to fit well and develop as a player.”
Playing behind Bills and Kraayeveld and under the tutelage of Smith — a former star at Oregon — Richard’s development and adjustment to Pacific-10 basketball has been smoother and quicker than most expected.
But when the team doesn’t need points or rebounds on the court, Richards is there for her teammates for all the off-court issues as well — easily assuming her role as Mama Gabes.
“At home, at the Institute of Sport, I don’t know how it came to be that I was Mama Gabes,” Richards said. “But everyone always seemed to come to me with their problems, and somehow I’d sort them out. It was the fact that they would come to me like I was their mom. I think that’s where it came from.”
Richards admits to always being somewhat like a mom, but
when Mama Gabes needs someone to turn to, she knows the
perfect person.
“I turn to my mom,” Richards said. “I ring home and talk to her if I have trouble.”
Whatever the trouble, it certainly doesn’t seem to exist at Mac Court.
So whether you need a gritty, gutty 12-point, nine-rebound performance from down low or just a trip to the mall, Gabrielle Richards will get it done.
Whatever is needed.

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