Overwhelmed early, Spink now ready to run with Racers
WBB: The Indiana product will provide point guard depth for Murray State this season
The courtship phase of a recruiting relationship can be a fickle thing. Sometimes it’s a very deliberate, elongated process where a player will weigh every possible option until the last minute when they’re ultimately forced to finally make a decision.
Murray State Head Coach Rechelle Turner offered Gabby Spink a scholarship on June 22nd, 2023, a few months before Spink started her junior year of high school. One year and one day later, Spink, right in the middle of the crucial summer recruiting window ahead of her senior season, decided there was no need to think about it anymore — she was going to be a Racer.
“I kind of committed early,” Spink said. “I committed at team camp last year. I came down here and I played in front of (the coaching staff), and I committed on that day. It really didn't take long. I kind of knew when I came here that this is the place I wanted to be no matter what, so that's why I committed early. I didn't really care what was going to happen in the long run, even though there was live (recruiting) periods to go. I knew I loved it here, so there were no second thoughts.”
When it’s love at first sight, it’s natural to want to fast-forward through the courtship and get right to, in this case, the basketball marriage as quickly as possible. Fifteen months after her commitment, Spink knows now, more than ever, she made the right decision.
“I love it,” Spink gushed. “I knew when I came here on my visit that the community was great and the people were amazing. Just being here, they're just even better than what you think. I've loved it so far.”
The admiration society between Spink and Murray State has been mutual from the start.
“Right out of the gate, (she’s a) strong, physical guard,” Turner said. “Obviously, our guards are smaller, but she's physical. She led her team to state championships. We like winners. We want people that have been in winning programs, and she comes from that. She was in a very good AAU program as well. She has the ability to be physical from that position. That's something that we need at times — to be able to guard more physical wings, bigger wings. There was just a lot to her game and a lot to her physicality that we thought would help enhance our guard depth.”
Spink got a chance to come to Murray to watch the Racers beat Illinois State during Christmas week last season, and then rooted on her future teammates from home as Murray State made their run to the NCAA Tournament. Three short months later, Spink arrived in Murray to start summer workouts, which, she admits, were a lot different than watching the Racers on television.
“There's nothing that can prepare you exactly for what's about to happen,” Spink chuckled. “Obviously you can work as hard as you can, especially on the little things and being with the trainer, running, or being in shape. Those kind of things you have control of. I'm used to playing a fast-paced game in high school and in travel ball, but it's not even close. It's not even close at all. I got here the first week, and I think I was in every coach's office crying, because I was like, ‘What is going on? I actually suck.’ My phrase was, ‘Do I even know how to spell basketball? What is happening right now?’ It was definitely a big change.”
This has almost become an annual rite of passage for freshmen in Turner’s program. Overwhelmed freshman struggles; freshman looks for support; coaches offer support; freshman figures it out. Year after year, the freshman script is remarkably similar — and that’s not by accident.
“They're amazing,” Spink said about the Murray State coaching staff. “I hear so many of my friends going to college, and they're like, ‘You get to go in your coach’s office?’ Without them being how they are, it would definitely have been hard.”
“That's foreign to me,” Turner said about staying isolated from her players. “You hear that all the time. We have transfers that say that was just not something they did. It was like going to the principal's office, right? They're in here all the time. There's some days I can't get anything done, but I tell people all the time, that's how I want it. I wouldn't have it any other way. I want them to feel comfortable. The more comfortable and confident they are, the better they're going to be in every aspect of their life. Our job is to make them understand we're going to hold you to a standard, because we have a standard here, but we're also going to love you through it because we're all going to make mistakes. We're always, always going to understand that maybe we could have done things a little bit better, a little bit different. The bottom line is that we have to be able for them to know how much we love them, because then when they know how much we care, they're going to give us everything they have.”
Spink says it took her about three weeks of workouts to finally develop a routine, but she was still struggling with learning to be a point guard in Turner’s system.
“Having to do all the little things and pushing it up and knowing all the plays, that was kind of my hardest thing,” Spink said. “It wasn’t the conditioning side of it, or the shooting side. It was mainly just the mental side of it — where to go, what to do. I think that was my biggest thing.”
“That's where my coaching staff comes in,” Turner added. “They do such a great job with our young women of setting them down, explaining things to them, showing them film, loving on them. That's what you do this time of year. You just love on them, and you pick them up, pick them up, pick them up as much as you can and just try to get to the next day and get better every single day.”
If you’re a freshman point guard at Murray State, there’s nothing more helpful than an all-league veteran to help you get around the learning curve. For Spink, she’s got two all-conference guards to lean on in Halli Poock and Haven Ford.
“They're just amazing,” Spink said. “On and off the court, they're just amazing. I obviously love the point guard position, so being able to watch them, their change of speed, and all their little things. I think those are two people I really talk to when I'm either doing good or doing bad or anything else.”
Every freshman naturally wants to come in and play right away. Spink’s role on this year’s edition of the Racers is yet to be decided, but she’s determined to have an impact in any way she can.
“Really, just to be the best person and player I can be,” Spink said when describing her goals for the season. “Obviously, it's different. In high school, you're the best person. Coming here, everyone's the best person from their high school. I really just think to make sure I work on all the little things, and, honestly, just becoming the best player I can be, whatever my role is. In high school, I knew I was only going to be the point guard. Here, I’ve got to work on everything, because you never know what's going to happen in the game, where they're going to need me, especially being a freshman. I think just becoming the best player I can be is kind of my biggest thing.”
Very informative. Great job on getting this information out. Always nice to know a little of the backstory.