Amanda Ottaway offers an unvarnished look at what it’s like to play D-1 college basketball.
When Amanda Ottaway arrived on Davidson’s idyllic campus in North Carolina as a college freshman, all seemed attainable, including an appearance in March Madness. After all, just the previous season, Davidson’s men’s team, led by Steph Curry, made the Elite Eight, transforming Davidson into a national brand.
Meanwhile, Davidson’s women’s basketball team labored in relative obscurity. While the men often flew to games and played on national television, the Davidson women played in front of a few hundred fans and endured all-night bus rides. Davidson women’s hoops is not UCONN. However, it is D1, and their players are talented and on scholarship.
Book cover courtesy University of Nebraska Press
Her experience there gave her plenty to write about, and her book, The Rebounders: A Division 1 Basketball Journey, is a sobering, very inside account of her experiences at Davidson. In a way, Ottaway pulls down the curtain on March Madness.
Among many lessons that Ottaway learned at Davidson was that her full scholarship, her “free ride,” wasn’t free. Basketball was her job, and her coaches relied on her playing well so they could keep their jobs. Indeed, Davidson players are not “regular” college students. As long as she was on scholarship, Ottaway’s body was the property of Davidson women’s basketball, and the regular protocol included studying film, practicing, and conditioning.
Amanda and her book (photo courtesy ESPN)
Players worked out extremely hard, and they were often injured. And that was just the basketball side. Players also had to attend class, study, complete assignments, and remain scholastically eligible. Sleep, well, that was a luxury.
Of course, Ottaway immersed herself in college life, just as most other students did (including losing her innocence). Today, in retrospect, she appreciates the overall experience, especially her teammates.
She tells a good story, too; make that a compelling story.
Ottaway doesn’t get bogged down with stats and long-forgotten scores. Instead, she recounts what happened between the games and behind the scenes. Food is one of the book’s themes. Players desperately need to refuel, and they often “wolfed down” whatever they could get their hands on.
As Ottaway’s playing career wound down, one coach became disrespectful, perhaps because Ottaway’s heart wasn’t in the sport the way it used to be. She wanted her body back, which had aged “dog years” during her college basketball tenure, such was the grind.
In my book, The Rebounders, is required reading for anyone interested in college basketball.
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Jon Hart is the author of Man versus Ball: One Ordinary Guy and His Extraordinary Sports Adventures and its undeserved sequel, Unfortunately, I was available.
