The University of Mississippi Athletics
A Rookie No More
6/8/2016 | Women's Basketball
A Rookie No More
Torri Lewis, Ole Miss Women's Basketball
Torri Lewis, a Memphis, Tenn., native penned a personal narrative describing her freshman year as a member of the Ole Miss women's basketball team. She shared it with OleMissSports.com.
Life for a freshman athlete it is quite interesting to say the least. Some might say even more so for me because I was homeschooled throughout high school so my schedule was a little different than the traditional high school schedule. Despite that, I would say the biggest adjustment for any athlete would be the busy schedules. In season, you might have classes from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., after class practice will start at 1:30 and can go anywhere from 1:30 to 5:30 and then after practice we would have tutoring appointments. We usually have two appointments lasting 50 minutes each and THAT was a normal day for me while in season. This type of day is nowhere near what my schedule was in high school.
Two of my favorite things that happened during my freshman year would have to be that I was on the Homecoming court and I set the Ole Miss women's basketball 3-point FG record. I was selected by other student- athletes to be on the freshman Homecoming court. I loved getting to wearing a beautiful gown on the same football field where we had ran so many 100-yard sprints throughout summer conditioning:) The 3-point record I was able to achieve was from the many mornings I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to shoot with my dad (Rich Lewis) and my trainer (Andreus Shannon). Throughout high school, both my dad and trainer helped me so much to achieve dreams I never thought were possible. While I set the school record, I was only two three-pointer shy of the NCAA record, but hopefully I can achieve that goal within the next three years.
One thing that was exciting for not only myself, but for our team as well, was the opening of the new arena we're fortunate to play in The Pavilion at Ole Miss. The Pavilion is so big and bright you might stop and think for a second "is this big arena really on a college campus?" As we would travel away to play other teams I believe we all wished we could go back to play in our new gym; however, I know for a fact we were not thinking about that too much when we went to New York City for Thanksgiving. We were VERY fortunate to have the opportunity to practice in one of Michael Jordan's private gyms, we went to see the Lion King on Broadway and ate at many famous restaurants. For me, it was my first time to New York and I wouldn't have wanted to experience it any other way.
Even though there were highs and lows throughout my freshman year, I was able to overcome and become a stronger person through the process. I believe the strongest people are the ones who go through the hardest things through Jesus Christ. I couldn't have asked for a better freshman year and I'd like to personally thank everyone who made it possible.
Next up: Sophomore Year
