StarTrib: Marcus Fuller: Wagner Gets One More Shot

Ignatius L Hoops

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http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...hot-finally-at-the-ncaa-tournament/477002103/

Carlie Wagner’s superstitious pregame routine starts with her socks. Then ankle braces, then shoes. Left to right, every time, every game.

“And I have to have my shorts on before I put my jersey on,” she added. “I know it’s weird. It’s just a little ritual that I do. I still do it every game.”

Minnesota’s senior guard hasn’t tweaked anything about that process for the last four years. Almost everything else surrounding Wagner in her Gophers basketball career has changed...


...Coughlin and Wagner grew tight after a Gophers camp in the eighth grade. They were inseparable, worked out together and even finished each other’s sentences.

“It was cool to have a teammate you were so close with and could bond with and go through everything together as freshmen,” Wagner said. “We were so goofy and had a blast.”

That fun came to an abrupt end, though, just before the Gophers traveled to the NCAA tournament in South Bend, Ind. three years ago.

Coughlin told Wagner before that trip she was leaving the team and transferring (eventually to North Dakota). Coughlin didn’t fit with then first-year coach Marlene Stollings.

Wagner was shaken going into that tournament game, knowing her friend was moving on. “Freshman year, I felt like the door hit me in the face,” she said. “That definitely was the hardest time. There’s so much being thrown at you — and learning to balance school, life and grow up without your mom and dad always helping you. You feel like you hit a wall sometimes, but it gets better. You just fight through it.”

Coughlin’s basketball career ended before she could play at North Dakota because of chronic knee issues. She came back to Minnesota to finish her degree, and she went from teammate to “Carlie’s biggest fan,” Coughlin said.
 


Great article! Hopefully she gets drafted by the Lynx!

I was hoping this too, but the Lynx are a solid 5 deep at guard. I can’t see them going with a 6 guard lineup but I suppose there’s a sliver of a chance it could happen.
 




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