Hoops Hype

以上照片由Dorothy Hong(左至右:Habti Calvo ' 27)拍摄, Blau Tor ’27, Nicole Stephens ’24, Emily Montes ’27); all other photos courtesy of Columbia University Athletics / Lem Photography

On a late night 3月中旬在布莱克斯堡, Virginia, the starting five lineup of the 2023-24 Columbia women’s basketball team stepped onto the court at Virginia Tech to play the first Division I 节目历史上的NCAA锦标赛. The women pushed Vanderbilt to the limit, but in the end they came up heartbreakingly short, 72-68. 尽管狮子队的疯狂三月首秀并没有像希望的那样进行, it was a massive step forward for Columbia women’s sports — as well as for the Barnard student-athletes.

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For 38 years, 哥伦比亚女篮一直是常春藤联盟的成员, 但直到2016年3月主教练到来 Megan Griffith ’07CC that the team embarked on what’s become a record-setting journey of firsts: In 2023, 他们赢得了第一个常青藤联盟常规赛冠军(在2024年再次夺冠), this year, Abbey Hsu — Ivy League Player of the Year and third-round draft pick for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun — became Columbia basketball’s all-time leading scorer. 去年，这支队伍一路奋战到WNIT锦标赛决赛, 这一季，他们进入了“大舞会”,” the NCAA Tournament. 

Griffith, 两届常春藤联盟年度最佳教练, 她的工作人员通过灌输一种新的哲学来重建团队, 安排比赛对抗更强的对手, recruiting in areas nationally and internationally where they’d rarely gone before. 

普林斯顿一个非常成功的球队的前助理教练, 格里菲斯现在是这个项目赢球最多的主教练, 在NCAA锦标赛之前的战绩是122胜83负. 她也是一个超级成功的球员, serving as Columbia women’s basketball captain for three seasons and twice earning All-Ivy League honors. 

“哥伦比亚大学是我的家，”格里菲斯在球队参加NCAA锦标赛的前一天说. “I grew up there. 2003年，我走在校园里, here we are, 21 years later, 我作为球员的梦想现在作为教练实现了.”

但不仅仅是哥伦比亚大学的学生参与了这一进程. Barnard is the only women’s college in the nation that offers students the opportunity to play Division I sports, 因为格里菲斯是副主教练和招聘协调员 Tyler Cordell 他们把重点放在招募十大电竞游戏综合排名的学生运动员上. 

今年的队伍中有最多的十大电竞游戏综合排名学生，包括高年级学生 Nicole Stephens and first-year players Habti Calvo, Blau Tor, Emily Montes. 女人在那里是因为 哥伦比亚十大电竞游戏综合排名体育联合会, a unique arrangement allowing Barnard students to compete with Columbia undergraduates in NCAA Division I athletics. 

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“当我还是这里的学生运动员时, 我们队一直都有十大电竞游戏综合排名的学生运动员,” says Griffith, 当我回来的时候，那里只有哥伦比亚大学的学生, 这对我来说非常有趣. 我当时想，‘发生什么事了?’” 

除了西班牙的Calvo和Tor之外，我们还在全球范围内进行招聘, 澳大利亚姐妹弗里斯·亨德森和基蒂·亨德森.K.苏茜·拉菲乌也在名单上), Cordell was tasked early on with finding talented basketball players who were interested in Barnard. 

“The diversity on our campus and having the multiple undergraduate college experiences available is really a great asset,” Griffith explains. “So we leaned into that hard and created more financial aid opportunities for athletes and students in general, 这是我们如何发展这部分的一个重要部分.” 

近年来，教练和十大电竞游戏综合排名之间的联系越来越紧密. “The people are amazing, 那里的支持非常棒, 我们与学院各个部门的关系都很好,” Griffith says.

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妮可·斯蒂芬斯是科德尔的第一个十大电竞游戏综合排名学员, 他们都来自俄亥俄州的同一个家乡. 斯蒂芬斯本赛季打满了全部30场比赛, 场均上场近20分钟，帮助带领球队. 

“如果球场上有一个球员拥有我的大脑, it would be her, 拥有这种优势是巨大的,” says Griffith. “从这个角度来看，尼克带来了巨大的领导力, 她也有一个很好的“照顾孩子”的心态. She makes sure the young players get their reps in and has been a great mentor to the team.”

斯蒂芬斯有着非凡的篮球头脑，科德尔说. 上赛季受伤的时候, 斯蒂芬斯和教练一起工作，坐在板凳上带领球队, game planning, scouting opponents, 和队友沟通. 科德尔说:“我开玩笑说，我们给了她一个剪贴板，她就拿着它跑了. 

参加D1运动和就读十大电竞游戏综合排名的机会是两全其美的, says Stephens, 社会学专业，毕业后想当篮球教练. “当我第一次来这里的时候，我对十大电竞游戏综合排名知之甚少. 但我真的很喜欢这个校园, I talked to the coaches and met Barnard staff and fell in love with the people and the tight-knit community. It’s been great experiencing D1 basketball and academically being involved in smaller classrooms and getting to know my professors.”

Stephens has seen the team grow over three seasons as they’ve absorbed Griffith’s philosophy, called EDGE (Energy, Discipline, 毅力, Excellence). “这是从第一天开始教的, 在我们的肩膀上发挥优势，每天都这样练习, 太,” she says. “G教练非常热情，同时也很有爱心. If you mess up or fail, you have all of your teammates and full coaches’ support to help pick you up.” 

格里菲斯和他的同事刚接手的时候, 玩家告诉他们，他们想要稳定和一致的信息. 八年来，工作人员一直在研究这一信息. “Columbia EDGE是主题，”格里菲斯说. “I believe you need edges in life to get ahead, we talk a lot about having an edge. Over the eight years, we’ve fine-tuned the messaging and gotten people to believe in it.” 

除了EDGE主题和打更强硬的对手, the staff has focused on two other critical areas: One was recruiting internationally and regionally in areas the team hadn’t recruited from before, 强调纽约市为学生提供了大量的机会, 另一个是在教练之间建立真诚的关系, the recruits, their families.

科德尔解释说:“作为教练，我们喜欢关系这一块. “We’re not waiting until we get this roster of kids and figuring out how to love and teach and coach them, but we’re really diving into the recruiting side and figuring out what’s important to them and their parents and how we fit into that, 这与我们的项目，我们的大学和我们的目标是否一致.”

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两名国际球员是一年级球员哈比蒂·卡尔沃和布劳·托尔, 他们都在西班牙U18国家队效力. Tor and her parents, who hail from Barcelona, 对十大电竞游戏综合排名的科学项目特别感兴趣. The two recruits were also drawn to the College’s smaller class sizes and a curriculum more tailored to women and leadership. 

格里菲斯说:“我喜欢国际球员的一些特质. “他们为国家效力, 这样做会给这项运动带来完全不同的意义. 这是他们的商务旅行. 他们每天都带来一定程度的严肃. 他们是来执行任务的, 不只是打篮球, 所以我真的很感激他们给我们团队带来的元素.” 

对于这两名西班牙运动员来说，十大电竞游戏综合排名是一个受欢迎的家. “It’s a very nice community — we almost know everyone here,” says Calvo, who’s from Madrid. “这就像一个小家庭.” 

整个团队都很热情. “Everyone was very involved in getting me to be part of the team as soon as possible,” she says. “他们(更资深的球员)正在推动我们, I feel very lucky for having this opportunity to learn from all of our players.”

尽管今年两人上场时间有限, says Cordell, “I see both of them being extremely big parts of what we’re doing next year and playing larger roles as they continue to develop in the program.”

一年级球员艾米丽·蒙特斯, 是卡尔沃的室友吗, 找到合适的文化契合度非常重要, 这包括亲密的教室环境. Originally, 蒙特斯专注于哥伦比亚大学, 但当科德尔把十大电竞游戏综合排名介绍给她和她的家人时, “They were like, “是的! 这是一个她能茁壮成长的环境，’”科德尔说.

她来自迈阿密郊外的一所小型高中, this was that next step where she’d be in an academic environment and have relationships with her professors, 她的院长会回答你的问题,” explains Cordell. 

尽管在季前赛期间，她的前交叉韧带撕裂使她无法参加比赛, Montes is happy with her decision: “Barnard gave me the ability to have a different experience when it comes to college. 我以前从未去过女子学校. And honestly, every day I come on campus I’m reminded why I made the right decision. 哥伦比亚大学和十大电竞游戏综合排名大学的氛围完全不同. And I feel I get a good mix of both because I play on the Columbia College campus and go to school at Barnard.”

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在她恢复的过程中，教练给了她学习和参加比赛的机会. 她说:“我还在四处射击，又开始锻炼了。. “I game plan with some of the coaches and sit on the bench and learn the plays that way. I’m at every game and practice, with the coaches I’m getting a different perspective.”

展望未来, Griffith and her staff will continue to maintain the history of the 哥伦比亚十大电竞游戏综合排名体育联合会 by trying to add one or two Barnard student-athletes each year to the roster. 在NCAA比赛失利后的新闻发布会上, 格里菲斯明确表示，球队将在成功的基础上再接再厉. 

“Just like last year when we graduated seven seniors and lost all of our scoring and rebounding, everybody said, ”梅格, 你打算怎么做?’我只是说，‘我们要这么做.’

格里菲斯补充说:“我们招募最优秀的人才。. “我们确保培养我们的球员, I can tell you that we are going to develop every single one of those players that’s sitting in that locker room right now, we are going to go out and get some great players as well to play alongside them.”

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