"She is one lucky Duck," said Bob Gruys, of Annandale, about his daughter Katie.
Katie, a 2012 graduate of Annandale High School and a freshman at the University of Oregon, recently joined the University of Oregon’s womens basketball team as a walk-on.
With five of 14 players out injured and another two unavailable, the Ducks needed some extra help. According to the Eugene, Oregon newspaper, The Register Guard, "Westhead had hoped the remaining seven would be able to hold up until some veterans return. But in Oregon’s most recent home game against Nevada, it became clear that fatigue led to some late-game breakdowns that cost the Ducks a shot at their first win."
Gruys was joined by another walk-on Chloe Stiles. "They need bodies, and they need Spirit," Stiles said. "They need a little push, and I think Katie and I can help with that."
"They’re two nice, delightful kids. I am not saying they’ll come in and solve all our problems, but they’ll be helpful. I am glad to have them," Westhead told the Register-Guard in December.
What are the odds?
Gruys is a friend of one of the Duck’s practice players, and he suggested Gruys come to one of the practices. "Coach Westhead and Muscatell saw me shooting and approached me about playing for the Ducks," Gruys said. This was the night before Gruys was supposed to fly home to Annandale for the winter break.
"Things happened really fast, before I left the practice that night, my track coach called and gave me permission to play basketball. He told me, ‘They want you and they need you to play, go for it,’" Gruys said.
Gruys was going to be red-shirted for the winter indoor track and field season anyway. Gruys went to Oregon as a shot-put and discus thrower for the track and field team. She canceled her trip home and within 48 hours was cleared by the NCAA to play Division 1 basketball for the Ducks.
"I thought the last game of basketball I would see Katie play was against Howard Lake Waverly-Winsted last winter, but then I get to see her playing for the Paul Westhead’s Oregon Ducks against U Conn, the nation’s number one-ranked team," said Nick Gruys, Katie’s older brother.
Great coach
Gruys is majoring in Sports Business and Management. "For that major, the University of Oregon is the best in the nation,"said Gruys. She would someday like to coach football and basketball.
Gruys is very happy with coach Westhead and the entire coaching staff at the University of Oregon, "I am learning from the best coach, so hopefully I will become a good coach," said Gruys.
Westhead, 73, came to Oregon in 2009. Westhead has a long college and professional coaching career and is the only coach to win both an NBA and a WNBA championship as a head coach. Westhead coached the Phoenix Mercury to an WNBA championship in 2007 and in 1980 was the head coach of the 1980 NBA champion LA Lakers. That was Magic Johnson’s rookie year and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar was also on that roster. Although he has coached WNBA teams, Oregon is the first women’s college team he has coached.
Westhead is known for his fast-paced, run and gun, up tempo style of play, known as "the system." According to Gruys, "With this style of play, our team must be committed to getting a shot off in 12 seconds and getting the ball back every 10 seconds."
Westhead has been successful with "the system." He uses few if any plays. Westhead reportedly thinks it would slow things down too much. "It was different with (Rob) Tengwall (Gruys’ Annandale coach). We always had a play," Gruys said.
Practices
"We practice five hours every day, 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. and run nearly three miles every practice," Gruys said. She indicated there were some "perks" though, like a meal is provided after each practice and if you request one, a player can get a massage. Gruys still does her weight training for track and field one-and- a-half hours a day.
Despite her hectic training schedule as a freshman in her first quarter, Gruys took 16 credits and earned impressive GPA of 3.70.
Playing time
Since joining the team, Gruys has gotten playing time in five games, 14 minutes total. She has taken six shots (no baskets yet) and pulled in two rebounds. The Ducks are 2-12 for the season, 0-2 in the Pac-12 Conference and 2-10 nonconference. The Ducks final game of the season is March 3.
A very good Cardinal
Gruys was a basketball three- year letter winner at Annandale. In her sophomore year, Gruys was part of the Cardinal girls trip to the state tournament. She was an All-Wright County Conference selection in both 2010-’11 and 2011-’12 seasons. Gruys was also named All Section her senior year.
Gruys was a four-year letter winner in track and field. She won conference and sectional championships in shot put and discus and was captain for the team that took third place honors at the track and field state championships in 2012. Gruys was also the volleyball team captain and earned All-Section honors as a senior.
"Besides being a lucky Duck, Katie learned a lot about hard work and tenacity from the Annandale community that she grew up in; her coaches, teachers, friends, friends’ parents, her grandparents and of course her parents and three brothers," Bob Gruys said.
Tengwall praises
Coach Tengwall added, "I loved coaching Katie. She worked extremely hard, she lifted weights year around and was in the gym all the time working to improve her game. Most people don’t realize all the time she put into basketball.
"For us she was a dominant force in the paint; we knew no one was going to push us around inside and that allowed us to do a lot of things offensively and defensively that we otherwise would not have been able to do. She was an excellent shot from outside and also could handle the ball, but she did not have the opportunity to show these skills off as much due to her playing at the center position for us.
"What I will remember the most about Katie is her smile and her fun loving attitude. She worked and played hard, but she had a lot of fun doing it! I saw her mature both as a player and as a person over the course of the four years I coached her. She was an excellent leader for us, and I’m really happy for her that she has this opportunity to play at Oregon.
"Her focus was track and field, but she was an excellent all-around athlete. I’ll be honest, I never envisioned her being a D-1 basketball player but good for her. It’s an exciting opportunity for her, and I know she’ll make the most of it."