The Cascade Conference basketball awards were announced Monday and, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, Raider senior forward Jacki Speer was named the co-player of the year (actually, the fact that there is a “co” on front of her award is a bit of a surprise, but congratulations to Evergreen State’s Jessica Wilkerson).
Speer wasn’t just great in her four years at SOU. In fact, a very strong case could be made that she’s the best basketball player in school history. Speer broke six SOU career or season records as a senior, including the all-time rebounding mark, and finished one point shy of the school’s all-time scoring champ, Melissa “I’m still the one” Bogh.
So yes, the numbers are impressive, but Speer also should go down as the player who led the Raiders’ charge back up the Cascade Conference hill after former head coach Kevin Wilson had the team scraping rock bottom.
Yes, the season was kind of a downer. I think everyone expected another trip to the national tournament, but if there’s anything 09/10 taught us, it’s that you just never know. An injury here, a slump there, and suddenly, oh yeah, I forgot, preseason rankings really don’t mean squat. And when a season ends in dissapointment, sports fans tend to bury the positives along with everything else. It would be a crime if that happened with Speer, though.
