Stacy Hansmeyer was a Forward for the UConn Huskies from 1996 – 2000.
While at UConn she was a player on the 2000 National Collegiate Athletic
Association Championship Team, appeared in the NCAA Elite Eight twice, and
the Sweet 16 once. She was also a part of four Big East regular season and
tournament titles. I had the pleasure of talking to Stacy in June 2006
about her career so far, and reflect on her basketball experiences and
memories.
As a youngster Stacy was first involved with the sport of track. She did
really well at running so her dad decided to try something different,
introducing Stacy to basketball. It was when Stacy was involved with
Amateur Athletic Union teams that she was introduced to Sherri Coale, the
head coach that she works for now. “Coach Coale was the coach at a camp I
went to in the fifth grade held at Norman High School, and now I’m back
with my first coach working for her as an assistant basketball coach.”
When Stacy reached high school as a freshman she was put on the varsity
team. “We ended up winning the State Championship that year, in 1993, and
then went on to win another championship my senior year. Both of them were
with Coach Cole as our head coach at Norman High School.” In Stacy’s
senior year the team was much better than any other team in the state of
Oklahoma. They had several Division I players on the team, and won the
state championship game by 40 points.
Stacy received many recruiting letters from Division I colleges. “UConn
was coming off a National Championship, which was obviously one of the
greatest National Championships in history in 1995 when they went
undefeated. Anybody that saw that game, why would you not want to go
there,” she said. Certainly many other schools were interested in Stacy,
too. Stacy narrowed her choices to UConn, Louisiana Tech, a team that was
very good at the time, and Southwest Missouri State, which had previously
been to a Final Four. Stacy and Coach Coale made an official visit to
UConn, and Coach Coale helped Stacy make the decision to come to UConn in
November of Stacy’s senior year. In the following spring as Stacy was
finishing her senior year of high school, Coach Coale was offered the head
coaching job at the University of Oklahoma. When asked if she considered
going to Oklahoma instead of UConn Stacy said,” No, No, No, It’s all about
timing, and it worked out to be perfect.”
The transition from high school to college was hard as any transition to
something you’ve never experienced. It’s not easy to prepare for, but
Stacy was thankful she had experienced being around the competition she
was during high school. What was it like playing for teams that were so
good, “Well its fun! When you can go to practice, and look good on a bad
day, that’s a really great thing. We had so much talent on every team I
played on at UConn. We knew we were competing for a National Championship,
and nothing less.”
There were many memorable
games, and moments while at UConn, and one game she enjoyed recalling was
in her senior year playing Tennessee in the National Championship game,
winning by about 20 points. It was similar to her high school championship
game, wining by about 40 points.
When asked about her thoughts on Coach Auriemma, Stacy said, “It was just
an incredible experience to play for such a legend. He’s done incredible
things for women’s basketball, and it’s awesome to say I experienced being
a member of his basketball team.”
Stacy earned her Bachelors Degree in Communications. Knowing that at some
point in her life she wanted to be a coach, she stayed at UConn a fifth
year as a student assistant coach gaining coaching experience.
Stacy will soon begin her sixth year as an assistant coach at the
University of Oklahoma where she has come full circle, and is working for
her first coach, Sherri Coale. So far Stacy’s job has been fantastic,
everything she thought it would be. Her best memory and story so far was
during her first season at Oklahoma making it to the NCAA Championship
game where they met, and lost to UConn. This past season Oklahoma went
from being a good team to an elite team winning 19 games in a row, and
reaching the NCAA Sweet 16. Stacy’s looking forward to the coming year
with twin returnees Courtney and Ashley Paris, and new recruit Amanda
Thompson ranked number 7 in the country; Stacy played a big part in
recruiting her. The recruiting class coming in is viewed as in the top
five in the country also including former NBA star Hakeem Olajuwon’s
daughter, Abi.
A routine day during basketball season is very busy for Stacy. She has to
do all her office work responsibilities in the morning, practice goes from
around 1:00 – 3:00 followed by scouting or recruiting or watching film
before leaving work for the day.
When asked if she prefers coaching or playing, Stacy said “I love them
both equally. There aren’t many things better than being an athlete at the
University of Connecticut. Coaching is also great; you’re impacting lives
in a different way. I try to help make the girls’ college experience as
enjoyable as possible.”
Stacy comes from a family of five kids, one brother, and three sisters who
are all singers. Stacy sang the national anthem while at UConn once, and
also sang at Oklahoma once.
While at UConn Stacy learned some valuable lessons, and grew as a person.
“I feel lucky to have been at UConn, and what an honor it was to be around
so many terrific people, players, and coaches. For me to stay in the
basketball world like I am right now, I’ll always feel so lucky to tell
people that I played for the University of Connecticut. It is truly an
honor.” Stacy doesn’t think there has been much that has changed since she
left UConn. “They are competing where you want them to be competing. To
win it all. For me, I’m envious of that because that’s my dream, that’s
where I want to be.”
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