DURHAM, N.H. — As the school calendar winds down, particularly for seniors, the inevitable questions begin to fly.
“What are you going to do for a job?”
It’s no different for Greene native and Leavitt Area High School graduate Courtney Anderson, a guard playing for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.
The Black Bears’ lone senior isn’t ready to focus on the future quite yet, even though that future includes attending the prestigious “So You Want To Be A Coach” program next month, for which Anderson was selected to participate by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s (WBCA).
“I’m trying to finish out my career here first,” Anderson said. “My dad asked if I’d looked into any job opportunities. I told him that I wasn’t touching any of that until the season is over. We still have a long road ahead of us as a team. So my career after that will wait.”
And it could be a while.
Anderson and the Black Bears have more immediate business — Maine begins America East Tournament play Saturday as the top seed and will face Binghamton.
Maine stumbled in the regular-season finale at the University of New Hampshire Sunday after having won 14 straight games.
“We’ve just got to keep working and work on things that didn’t work so well (against UNH),” Anderson said. “We have to continue to build and be ready for Saturday.”
Anderson has been along for the ride as the Black Bears went from winning just one game her freshman year to finishing 21-7 overall and 14-2 in the conference this year, sharing the conference title with Albany and securing the top seed.
“It’s been a great season so far,” Anderson said. “It’s not over yet though. We still have a long ways to go, and we still have to finish out strong.”
As the lone senior on the Black Bears, she’s become a team leader and spark plug. She earned herself the trust of coach Richard Barron during her previous seasons and was rewarded with a scholarship. She’s been a catalyst off the bench and a leader on the bench.
She averaged 2.5 points per game this year and 1.6 assists, but has given the Black Bears a seasoned and determined presence in the lineup. She’s become something of an older sister to the rest of the team and showed great qualities as a potential coach.
Which brings it all back to the “So You Want To Be A Coach” program.
When Barron had the opportunity to nominate Anderson for the April program, he submitted her name.
“The program is ‘So You Want To Be A Coach,’ and that’s exactly what she wants to be,” Barron said. “She’s got a great mind for it. She’s got a great attitude. She’ll do a terrific job with that. It will be a fun experience for her. She’ll make great connection and learn a lot about the professional coaching environment.”
The event is a three-day workshop April 3-5 at the WBCA National Convention in Tampa, Fla. Anderson is just one of 58 chosen to participate in the workshop and was the only one selected from the America East conference.
Anderson is an elementary education major and would like to teach and coach — just like her mother, Tammy. Courtney and her sister, Kristen, grew up playing for their mother and won a state championship for her at Leavitt. Kristen is now a sophomore at UNH.
“That’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Anderson said. “I’ve thought about it for a while. I’m just excited for this opportunity.”
Players are selected based on academics, contribution to women’s basketball on and off the court and a recommendation from their head coach. Anderson put together a resume for her application to the workshop and was pleased when she learned that she was selected.
“It’s an opportunity to network myself with coaches around the country and just a chance to learn more about the game from people that know it best,” Anderson said. “It’s a great opportunity for me and a great opportunity for all coaches out there.”
Anderson has a couple of friends who attended the conference last year — UNH assistant Kelsey Hogan and former Maine guard Rachele Burns, who’s now an assistant at the University of Southern Maine.
“I was really excited,” Anderson said. “I get to go to the Final Four and getting to be part of the convention is really cool. I know some people that have done it before. Kelsey Hogan at UNH did it last year and Rachele Burns, one of my teammates, did it last year too. So I knew what it was about. So I’m pretty excited about it.”
For now now, Binghamton, and the America East tourney, await.
kmills@sunjournal.com
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