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DeGroot finds a home at SCSU
 Media Credit: Christine Johnson/Editor SCSU sophomore women�s basketball player Kristine DeGroot will play against her former team when the Huskies face NDSU this weekend.
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When the SCSU women's basketball team steps on the court this weekend to play North Dakota State, there will be a few extra emotions flying. Not just because the Huskies will be fighting to keep a playoff spot, but because SCSU sophomore Kristine DeGroot will be playing against her former squad.
The 6'3" post player graduated from Luverne High school where she averaged 21 points, nine rebounds and three blocks per game, while earning All-State Honorable Mention and All-Conference honors. Luverne Coach Jody Buck Stefonwicz, who was an All-American at NDSU, helped convince DeGroot that NDSU was the place for her. Even though SCSU made a visit to her house, DeGroot already had her mind made up to attend NDSU.
It didn't take long for her to regret her decision.
"At NDSU, basketball was everything," DeGroot said. "You'd have to weigh in twice a week and take tests on calorie intake. If you lost a game people, wouldn't even talk to you."
After having a miserable freshman year at NDSU, DeGroot thought about hanging up her basketball shoes for good.
"After a bad experience like that, it makes you think maybe you don't want to play anymore," she said.
She weighed her options and remembered what SCSU coach Lori Ulferts had told her.
"I remembered she (Ulferts) said, 'if you change your mind we'd love to have you,' and she was the only coach that ever said that," DeGroot said. "So I just called her and told her how I felt, and it wasn't easy because how do you tell a coach that you told already told no, 'sorry I made a mistake?'"
Ulferts welcomed her with open arms and that summer DeGroot found her home at SCSU.
"We knew right away that we wanted her," Ulferts said.
After she met her new teammates at summer camp, she knew she was in the right place. And after a couple practices with the team, DeGroot did something she hadn't done for a long time. She was having fun again.
"Now I'm a little more laid back and I realize basketball is not the only thing in the world," DeGroot said. "Here, if we lose, coach will tell us what we did well and that it's not the end of the world."
DeGroot had to redshirt and sit out all of last year because she transferred to a team in the same conference, which was not necessarily a bad thing.
"I'm glad I stayed in this conference," DeGroot said. "It was worth it to sit out a year. I needed a year off anyway to get back into it to where the game was fun again."
As a Husky, DeGroot has not only found a role as a player on the team but her creative personality also was allowed to shine. After designing the team's practice uniforms and many other items from magnets to CD covers, Ulferts urged DeGroot to use her creative talents and major in advertising. She took Ulferts' advice and is now majoring in advertising with a minor in political science. DeGroot also has a very down-to-earth, let-loose attitude that she wasn't allowed to release at NDSU. Aside from her love for animals, books and sports, she also makes occasional appearances at dance clubs. At 6'3" she is definitely not hard to pick out.
Talent-wise, DeGroot brings size to a very small Husky lineup. In an offense that uses 5'8" senior Tina Schreiner as its No. 1 post threat, DeGroot is vital to the future of the organization.
"She has only just begun," Ulferts said. "Up until this point, she has improved a lot. At 6'3" and moving as fast as she does with her coordination, she'll be a very good player."
NDSU remains one game ahead of the Huskies with an 8-6 record. A win over the Bison would give the Huskies a third place tie and would help in securing a playoff spot. No matter what happens in the game, one thing is for sure - DeGroot knows that she made the right decision.
"I couldn't be happier," she said.
Bobby Hart can be reached at: [email protected]
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