BleedGopher
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per ESPN:
In announcing her decision to return for a fifth season, Banham said she had unfinished business. Whether that was her business or the business of those to whom her time in Williams Arena means so much is difficult to determine. Perhaps they are too intertwined to separate.
"I think a lot of people don't like to stay home due to possible pressures of playing in front of people that know you super well and you grew up in front of," Banham said of her initial college choice. "But I think that's made me better. It made me push myself every single day. Playing in front of people that know me, some people would call it pressure, but I think it makes you better. It's more motivation."
Faced with a similar choice, minus the injury and roots, Zahui B. entered the WNBA draft with a year of eligibility remaining. Banham said she understood the All-American post player's decision but also "I'd be lying if I said there wasn't any disappointment for me and I guess everybody."
Had Zahui B. returned with Banham, many might have picked Minnesota to challenge Maryland and others for Big Ten supremacy. Perhaps the Gophers still will challenge for that title, but a more reasonable goal with what to this point has been a productive but shorthanded rotation is simply a return to the NCAA tournament. Banham is doing all she can toward that goal. Cast in a different role on a team whose strength is the perimeter, she is averaging 24.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and shooting 40 percent from the 3-point line. With 29 points in a loss against Auburn, she passed Whalen as the program's all-time leading scorer.
"She didn't look like she was out at all," Wagner recalled of Banham's return to competition this past summer. "When she came back on the court, I was like 'Well, Rachel's back.' It was like nothing ever changed."
That, of course, isn't entirely true.
"Even sometimes now, I catch myself looking at people's knees when they're going up for layups, which is really weird," Banham said. "But it was super mentally exhausting having to watch and think about that [when sitting out a season ago]."
In the moment of competition, athletes want to believe what Banham expressed before the Duke game. But the truth is more compelling.
I have felt pain. And I'm still here.
http://espn.go.com/womens-college-b...s-rachel-banham-bond-minnesota-golden-gophers
Go Gophers!!
In announcing her decision to return for a fifth season, Banham said she had unfinished business. Whether that was her business or the business of those to whom her time in Williams Arena means so much is difficult to determine. Perhaps they are too intertwined to separate.
"I think a lot of people don't like to stay home due to possible pressures of playing in front of people that know you super well and you grew up in front of," Banham said of her initial college choice. "But I think that's made me better. It made me push myself every single day. Playing in front of people that know me, some people would call it pressure, but I think it makes you better. It's more motivation."
Faced with a similar choice, minus the injury and roots, Zahui B. entered the WNBA draft with a year of eligibility remaining. Banham said she understood the All-American post player's decision but also "I'd be lying if I said there wasn't any disappointment for me and I guess everybody."
Had Zahui B. returned with Banham, many might have picked Minnesota to challenge Maryland and others for Big Ten supremacy. Perhaps the Gophers still will challenge for that title, but a more reasonable goal with what to this point has been a productive but shorthanded rotation is simply a return to the NCAA tournament. Banham is doing all she can toward that goal. Cast in a different role on a team whose strength is the perimeter, she is averaging 24.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and shooting 40 percent from the 3-point line. With 29 points in a loss against Auburn, she passed Whalen as the program's all-time leading scorer.
"She didn't look like she was out at all," Wagner recalled of Banham's return to competition this past summer. "When she came back on the court, I was like 'Well, Rachel's back.' It was like nothing ever changed."
That, of course, isn't entirely true.
"Even sometimes now, I catch myself looking at people's knees when they're going up for layups, which is really weird," Banham said. "But it was super mentally exhausting having to watch and think about that [when sitting out a season ago]."
In the moment of competition, athletes want to believe what Banham expressed before the Duke game. But the truth is more compelling.
I have felt pain. And I'm still here.
http://espn.go.com/womens-college-b...s-rachel-banham-bond-minnesota-golden-gophers
Go Gophers!!