BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
It only took one scrimmage this past spring for Laurentian University Lady Vees head coach Mike Clarke to see he had landed an extremely special, talented athlete.
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Cassandra Carpenter, 19, has exploded onto the OUA women?s basketball scene. She?s made an immediate impact and is in the top 15 in numerous OUA statistical categories. |
Cassandra Carpenter came in and wowed her future teammates with her tremendous skill and power at that initial scrimmage.
The rookie forward has continued to put on an impressive display of skill and scoring in the first half of the Ontario University Association (OUA) basketball season.
So far, Carpenter is second on the team in scoring and the leader in rebounds. Carpenter?s height and power made an immediate impact.
Carpenter, despite being only 19, currently sits seventh in OUA league scoring with an average of 15.5 points per game. She?s also eighth in steals, 13th in rebounding and 14th in free throw percentage.
Clarke is obviously impressed.
?She?s a player and a half,? said Clarke. ?Consider there are 16 teams in the OUA and she?s a rookie, so it?s
astonishing. Players of her calibre don?t come around too often.?
Coming out of high school basketball in Ottawa, Carpenter sent in a recruitment form to Laurentian. Clarke brought Carpenter to Sudbury to tour the school, facilities and meet the team.
?Cassandra is one of those recruits that make you look like a genius,? said Clarke.
That first trip to meet her potential future teammates and the university was all Carpenter needed to make up her mind that Laurentian was going to be the right place for her to continue her basketball career and pursue her post-secondary education.
?Their basketball team has always had a good tradition,? said Carpenter. ?When I first came up here I met about 90 per cent of the team. Everybody was interested in who I was. It showed they all cared about their team and who was coming in. It was definitely the main reason I came here.?
Carpenter didn?t set lofty goals for herself when she came in, but that quickly changed.
?I didn?t set any high goals, but after a conversation with Mike, we changed my goals,? said Carpenter. ?It was clear I had to set higher goals in order to improve.?
Clarke knew exactly what to say to Carpenter.
?I described her hypothetically to herself and said if I was describing this player, with these strong attributes, then what do you think she would be able to accomplish,? said Clarke. ?She underestimated her abilities. She?s a starter and extremely talented. I think it helped her out a lot.?
Carpenter admits she has had her good and bad games, but credits her veteran teammates for her rapid adjustment to the OUA.
?My teammates have helped me out,? said Carpenter. ?They push me hard in practice to keep a high intensity level. You can?t slack off for one second because they?re on you. This team has 12 amazing players on it and it?s taken the pressure off me coming in and allowed me to develop my game. As a rookie, it?s been shocking to do
what I?ve done so far.?
Clarke sees an athlete that puts her superior athletic ability to good use.
?She?s strong, aggressive and can drive to the basket as well as anyone,? said Clarke. ?Cassandra is also a hard
worker and an inside and outside the paint threat.?
Clarke is hoping for even bigger things from Carpenter in the second half of the season and he doesn?t see it as extra pressure.
?Cassandra isn?t afraid to fail and that?s what separates her from other players,? said Clarke. ?She could have a very special career.?
Carpenter is studying physical education and plans to teach in the future.
