As soon as I got to Belmont Abbey, I thought, “Okay, this place might be straight out of a college brochure… but in a good way.” The campus was calm, clean, and had just the right balance of peaceful and “hey, we mean business.” Everyone was friendly, which almost made me nervous, like.. are they always this nice?
Got the grand tour (shoutout to my legs for surviving all the walking after a long workout with many ball handling drills… jk)
Top 3 highlights:
- The Abbey Basilica, we saw it from far away but it was so pretty
- Everything’s super walkable no need for a scooter or teleportation, (unless you just had a 3 hour workout, which in that case you might want to consider it)
- The weight room was such a big room, it looked like I would be spending a lot of time there working on legs.
Now to the real reason I was there, the workout with coaches and girls from around the country. It almost seemed like I was the only one from North Carolina. Can you believe someone drove 7 hours the night before… so crazy.
Breakdown:
- Warmups: Tried to act like I wasn’t already sweating during the ball handling drills
- Drills: Fast-paced, intense, but fun (in that “wow I might collapse but I’m smiling” kinda way).
- 5-on-5: Got competitive quick I even heard someone yell “switch” like it was a playoff game. Respect.
The other girls were locked in but so nice, the coaches were legit, and I somehow didn’t trip over my own feet. So overall, a win.
Belmont Abbey gave me a great look at what life could be like here, challenging, structured, and full of support and a big family vibe (and probably a few sore muscles). The coaches don’t just talk development, they live it.
And the team? Felt more like a sisterhood than a roster, even though there were only a few there. The coaches and players spoke very highly of the family feel on the team.
I could definitely see myself in this jersey, preferable after a nap.
Huge thanks to Coach Lusk, Coach Gonyo and the team for a great workout and just letting me see how you guys function as a team and for not roasting me when I missed my first jumper, or even when I air balled a few others, Y’all are real ones.
