THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE, May 1, 2014
Katelyn Loper was picking up a teammate from the airport when she got the call.
Team meeting - get over here as soon as you can.
So imagine her surprise when Loper, who just completed her junior season with the University of Oregon women's basketball team, walked into the locker room.
"Kelly (Graves) was sitting in the locker room, talking to the girls," Loper recalled the other day, in a phone interview from Eugene. "I couldn't believe he was there. We just thought there was no chance that he would ever leave Gonzaga."
Graves was lured away from the Zags after 14 seasons to replace Paul Westhead, whose contract was not renewed after five seasons.
FUNNY THING that Loper will play for Graves next season. There was a chance she could have played for him several years ago, after graduating from Post Falls High.
"As a sophomore, he was recruiting me really hard," Loper said. "And then I got hurt (that) summer, and a lot of the calls stopped coming in for me."
During practice with the Spokane Stars AAU team, Loper suffered a severe ankle injury, which limited her playing time that summer - and limited the chance for her to be seen by college recruiters.
Loper, a 5-foot-11 guard, recalled going to team camps at Gonzaga when she was in high school, going to Zags games, touring their locker room, and remembers Graves coming to watch her play with Post Falls.
Loper said an offer from the Zags would have been appealing, but she was also interested in getting away from here for college. Remember, she ended up signing with Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., about as far away from here as you can get.
"I guess it all came around, somehow, someway," she said.
LOPER, ONE of the more entertaining high school players to come through these parts, with her long-distance shooting and her emotional play, spent two years at Hofstra before transfering to Oregon, where she redshirted in 2012-13 before playing last season. Loper averaged 11.5 points and 12.4 points in two seasons at Hofstra.
This season, playing in the system Westhead made famous in the Bo Kimble/Hank Gathers days at Loyola Marymount - where ideally he wanted a shot taken in seven seconds - Loper led the Ducks in 3-pointers made (83) and attempted (306), and averaged 13.7 points per game - third on the team - in 28 games. She scored 29 vs. Bakersfield in her Oregon debut.
"It's funny that I'll go back home and coaches will say, 'that offense was perfect for you,'" she said. "Now it is, developing into the player that I am, it was perfect for me, but at the same time, I guess I'm a player that likes to be held accountable."
Westhead went 18-16, 13-17 and 15-16 in his first three years at Oregon. During Loper's redshirt year, the Ducks had injury issues and finished 4-27.
This year, Oregon improved on that record, finishing 16-16, 6-12 in the Pac-12, with a loss to Washington in the first round of the Women's NIT. But apparently that wasn't enough for the Ducks' brass to keep Westhead.
"It was still kind of shocking this year (seeing Westhead not retained), going from that (4-27) season and we though it was a good enough turnaround," Loper said. "But we understand it's a business and you just have to deal with it."
LOPER IS on pace to graduate next spring, with a major in social science. When she left for Hofstra, she wanted to be a sportscaster, perhaps for ESPN. Now, she's hoping to get into the police force.
Loper said she feels her game is more well-rounded now, after four years of college, making the transition back to a more-traditional system such as Graves' much easier.
"I think he's got a good chance to turn our program around," Loper said. "I could see an Elite Eight or a Final Four in the next four or five years."
Of course, since Loper has just one year of eligibility remaining, she wouldn't mind seeing that happen a little bit sooner.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.