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kind of quiet. She kept to herself a lot. . . . We really didn't hang out that much because she was getting used to everything here. Her comfort zone was around Shoni." Shawnta' (pronounced shawn-TAY) Dyer, who came to U of L from Marion, Ohio, the same year as Shoni, may be Jude's best friend. "Te frst time I met Jude, she was very quiet, laid-back, chill. You couldn't get many words out of her because she was always with her sister. Tat's what she was used to back at home, hanging out with her sister, so that's just what she clung to," Dyer says. "When I got to know her, she seemed like me!" Shoni's transition to college basketball was almost seamless by comparison. She started as a freshman, scored an average of 15.1 points per game — ranking second on the team — and led the conference in three-point feld goals. She was unanimously selected to the Big East AllFreshman team. Junior guard Bria Smith says she had to get used to "the whole spark that she had. If you weren't ready for what she was going to do, you'd be like, 'Oh snap! She passed to me!'" Before Dyer met Shoni, she worried Shoni might be cocky or standofsh. After all, she had already received a great deal of attention, including a movie about her life, Of the Rez. Until Shoni's junior year in high school, the family lived on the reservation in Pendleton, Ore. Tey moved to Portland when their mother, Cecilee, took a job as the Franklin High School basketball coach. Rick Schimmel initially stayed behind in Pendleton for his job. Te movie follows Shoni's rise as a Native American basketball star. But Shoni seems unmoved by the whole thing, and she melded easily with the fve other freshmen. Te six of them called themselves the Super Sixes. "We had a close bond," Dyer says, "and we did everything together; we struggled together." Last year, when Shoni started the season about 20 pounds overweight, teammates didn't hesitate to remind her that she had a job to do. "Shoni's our leader," Hammond says. "Shoni's the person everybody on the court looks to. When she came in out of shape and didn't do her part over the summer . . . I think everyone was like, 'All right, Shoni, we need you to do your part. We done our part.'" If teammates saw her with a Dr. Pepper, her favorite beverage, they didn't let it pass. "We'd say, 'We'll get you water,'" says Hammond. She says Shoni never got mad. The Reluctant Recruit Te frst time that Cardinals assistant coach Norman saw Shoni play was on a YouTube video. Friends from Oregon, where Norman grew up, told her about this fashy high-schooler. Te video impressed her. "You don't see kids that can pass like she can," Norman remembers thinking. "She'll bring a whole new dimension to the game." Shoni's ability to shoot long-range also caught the coach's attention. But Louisville was one of more than 100 colleges recruiting Shoni — and she wanted nothing to do with any of them. "My dad would have to bribe me to talk to them: 'Talk to them for 20 bucks,'" Shoni says. "But I don't care to talk to them. I'm just trying to play basketball." Walz stuck with it, talking regularly to Rick Schimmel. "I think Shoni called me twice through the entire process," Walz says. "Some kids call once a week, once every two weeks. Some kids, you talk to them 60, 70 times." Walz says Shoni was easy to recruit. He simply told her she could make a diference at Louisville. So why did Shoni choose the Cards? "Jef stayed with me," Shoni says. He didn't give up. Some 40 schools recruited Jude, including Columbia, but they couldn't compete with what Louisville had — Shoni. Te Schimmel sisters used to talk about playing on diferent teams, but Jude knew they belonged together. Taking the court together remains a big deal. Watch the end of the Cardinals' game against Baylor and you'll see Shoni and Jude celebrate together. It's what they always do. "At the end of the game, we always have each other to run to," Jude says. "Tat was our favorite thing," Shoni says. "It's like, we won! And it's like, the frst person I see is Jude. And I'm running to Jude." Louisville Bridal Showcase ™ Louisville's Most Prestigious Bridal Shows© LouisvilleBridalShowcase.com www.louisvillebridalshowcase.com Register online today at BridalShowTickets.info or call (502) 290-4039 for exhibitor information. free Present this ad to receive one admission with each paid admission! December 29th, 2013 & July 13th, 2014 Ramada Plaza Convention Center 1776 Plantside Drive 12-5 p.m. 34 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 12.13 January 26th, 2014—Signature Series The Henry Clay 604 South Third Street 12-5 p.m.