By Aaron M. Smith
Production from a freshman basketball player is often considered a luxury. If that’s the case, University of Dayton Flyers might have a Mercedes Benz.
Ask any coach and they will be the first to say that the obstacles for any freshman basketball player are immense. The level of talent, the speed of the game, the long grind that is the college basketball season – the list is long.
Once in a while there are exceptions to the rule. Such is the case in UD Flyers freshman guard Andrea Hoover.
The Bellbrook, Ohio native entered her freshman year at Dayton with both high accolades and expectations, having finished her high school senior year averaging 26 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists in leading the Spring Valley Academy to a 31-1 record. Hoover was a four-time Most Outstanding Player for her academy and was named to the ESPN Hoopgurlz Class of 2011 Super 60 Players.
So what did coach Jim Jabir and the Dayton Flyers know what they were getting with their latest recruit? “There is a certain kind of hunger that I saw in Andrea, a toughness and a competitiveness that I don’t see in a lot of kids. She is built different that anyone I have ever been around,” Jabir recalled. “She finishes very, very well. She has great body control. She will double clutch, reverse, kind of spin it off the glass. She has made some very difficult shots, in some very clutch situations.”
Just how difficult is the transition to college basketball? “If you ask anyone who has played college basketball, the freshman year is always the most difficult,” explained UD senior, Justine Raterman. “You are still trying to figure out what you can do at this level and especially in trying to figure out your role.”
“It has been very different than high school, definitely faster,” Hoover agreed. “I never knew how much each game meant until I got to college. If you lose one game, it is a huge blow. Each game, we study each team, the plays. It is such a big difference than high school.”
If any transition has existed for the 5-9 guard, her play in her freshman year has shown very few signs. Hoover finished the 2011-12 Atlantic conference play averaging 26.8 minutes, 10.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. The freshman was named A-10 Rookie of the Week four times and culminated in Hoover recently being named the 2012 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year.
“The biggest thing is the difference in the physicality, quickness and the strength in the kids. Making that adjustment where in high school you could get a shot easily, now you have to work a little harder and you have to have a little bit more explosiveness in your step,” Jabir explained. “Everyone is quicker, longer and stronger. You have to adapt to that, and I think that is the biggest thing. The other thing that people don’t think about is the college season is more strenuous, a lot longer and there comes a certain point of the year when the freshman kind of hit a wall. They have to overcome that. She (Hoover) is one of the toughest kids I have ever been on around and I think she is the toughest kid on the team.”
That toughness was on showcase this past weekend in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. During Dayton’s quarterfinal match against the St. Louis Billikens, with 14:41 left in the second half, Hoover took a foul line jumper that kicked off the rim and headed out of bounds. Realizing she had missed the shot, Hoover chased down the loose ball and as she was crashing into her team’s bench, passed the ball to her teammate. The play lead to a Raterman layup and extended the Flyers’ lead to 44-28. It was a lead they never relinquished. Hoover’s play will never show up on the stat sheet, but it quickly won the approval of her teammates and Flyers’ faithful in the stands.
Two days later, Hoover scored four of Dayton’s last six points in the A-10 Conference championship game, including two pressure packed free throws. The points were instrumental in the Flyers holding on to defeat St. Bonaventure and win their first ever A-10 Conference Tournament championship.
“She has all parts of the game. She is not someone that teams can sink off, double and help off because she can hit the three. If you close out on her hard, she is going to drive to the rim. Defensively, she is very strong too,” Raterman added.
While the 2011-2012 season has brought the Flyer’s first A-10 Tournament and a berth the NCAA tournament, the season will also mark the end for Dayton’s seven seniors.
“She is different from a lot of freshman because I think she loves to play. People are good at things, they aren’t necessarily passionate. She loves to play,” Jabir added. “She is a really important cog in our whole thing, and she has become that. She has earned every accolade she has received.”
There’s no doubting the Flyer faithful have plenty to look forward to in this year’s NCAA Tournament. With Andrea Hoover running the show, life after the dance should also go well.
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