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of Rouen, France, taking the court after transferring from Lindsey Wilson College. Tis will be Shoni's last year with U of L; she graduates in June and is thinking about the WNBA or playing overseas. Jude, who turned 20 in November, skipped eighth grade; since high school she's been just a grade behind Shoni. She's about to catch up again, set to graduate at the end of this year, but says she'll stay another year and complete a master's degree. While Shoni has been on the honor roll a couple of times, she's also had some lessstellar academic moments, including failing an introduction-to-philosophy class. "I didn't know what I was getting into," she says. Jude's gradepoint average, on the other hand, is somewhere beyond the asteroid belt, at 3.737. Te NCAA recognized her as the student athlete with the highest GPA participating in the fnals. In fact, she turned down an Ivy League scholarship for sports and academics from Columbia to play with her sister at Louisville. "Tat was probably the toughest decision I ever made," Jude says. "If I had an Ivy League degree, I could pretty much do anything I wanted to. I'm hoping to go back, if I have the opportunity." Assistant coach Samantha Williams says Jude got of to a rough start, but she completely turned it around. Te frst year Jude played for Louisville, it looked as though a high school kid had stumbled onto the court; she was skinny, her play hesitant and self-conscious. She had little court time, a jarring change from her high school years. Even though she was always in Shoni's shadow in Oregon, Shoni's was the only one casting shade in Kentucky. When Shoni broke her foot in her junior year of high school and sat out for seven weeks, Jude ended the season as the Portland Interscholastic League's Player of the Year. But like a lot of freshman college athletes, Jude found Division I competition humbling. "I had to just basically accept the fact that I wasn't the most dominant player on the foor," she says. It did a number on her confdence, and it honed the edge on her homesickness. "I missed my little siblings like crazy," she says. She and Shoni have an older brother and fve younger siblings, including one sister. Given her trouble on the court, this whole Louisville thing hardly seemed worth it to Jude as she prepared to enter her sophomore year. Maybe she would be better of somewhere else. "If I wasn't getting playing time here, I could go home and get playing time and be with my family," Jude says. "Tat was my thought process." Walz has seen this before with freshmen. "A big adjustment for all high school players is how physical the college game is," Walz says. "Jude's extremely quick; she does some great things with the basketball. But all of a sudden, you get to college, and now you're playing against players who are just as quick — and strong." Te fact that she was a year younger than most freshmen and on the small side — 5-6 to Shoni's 5-9 — didn't help. Jude worked on her strength and on her game over the summer, but emotionally, her commitment wobbled. It took a come-to-Jesus with Walz to turn her around. "He told me, if I just give him all my efort, just be all here and not worry about being home, things will get better," Jude says. "He told me, basically, to just reach out to my teammates and get closer to them. You don't think about missing home as much when you're out having fun or hanging out with your friends." Te advice worked. Her teammates sensed the change. Junior forward Sara Hammond and Jude started at U of L the same year. Hammond, the frst Kentucky McDonald's All-American and the frst to play for U of L, was working through her own acclimation. She had never before failed. As a seventh-grader in Rockcastle County, the high school coach recruited her to play on the varsity team. Tat year she played basketball for the seventh-grade team, the eighth-grade team, the freshman team, the junior varsity team and the varsity team. Now she was having trouble getting minutes. After riding the bench for an entire game against Georgetown, she crumbled — which proved to be her turning point. Hammond knew Jude was having troubles of her own. "I think it was harder for her than it was for Shoni," Hammond says. "(Jude) was Bridal Show produced by UltimateBridalServices.com and Kenny Sauter's Masters of Music Sunday, December 22nd | 12:30-3 p.m. Holiday Inn — Louisville East 1325 Hurstbourne Lane, Louisville, KY 40222 One lucky Bride & Groom will win a $500 Cash Coupon to be used just like cash with eligible wedding professionals in this bridal show Presented by www.ultimatebridalservices.com Preregister TODAY at UltimateBridalServices.com FREE admission to preregistered Brides and Grooms. $5 for all other guests. 32 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 12.13