Gerardot finds role after transfer

Tabitha Gerardot walked into her coach’s office knowing her time playing basketball for Valparaiso was over.

Gerardot was sweating. She was nervous. She hates disappointing people.

From the moment she woke up after her final game of her junior season in 2013, before she had even opened her eyes, Gerardot was analyzing her options.

She wrote everything she was going to say in a notebook over and over again, but practicing and doing were two profoundly different things when a basketball scholarship was at stake.

Gerardot was a standout player for Valparaiso, an All-Conference player. She was the star.

After about two weeks of scrutinizing, Gerardot composed herself one final time and told her coach she was leaving it all behind.

She told her coaches she would not return for her senior season at Valparaiso. Valpariso Coach Tracey Dorow provided her a letter of contact on the spot and told her she could transfer to any team outside of the Horizon League.

The next morning, Gerardot received a call from IU Coach Curt Miller.

“I knew he was interested right after I got the contract,” Gerardot said. “And I knew I wanted to go there.”

She signed her letter of intent just after graduating from Valparaiso in three years.

Gerardot would join IU’s women’s basketball team and pursue a master’s degree in linguistics.

The match seemed puzzling. Gerardot was transferring to a school she beat last season.

In fall 2013, starting as a graduate student with one year of eligibility remaining, Gerardot was committing to a struggling program in the second year of a six-year rebuilding plan.

The pairing was unlikely, but Gerardot was determined to make IU her new home.

***

Her journey to Bloomington was far from typical.

She was homeschooled until she started at Canterbury High School in Fort Wayne her freshman year — a college preparatory school known more for rigorous education than producing basketball stars.

Gerardot calls herself a homebody. Switching from home school to Canterbury was a leap, but a necessary one if she was serious about playing college ball.

As a high school standout at Canterbury, Gerardot led the Cavaliers to three state championships and was named the state tournament’s most valuable player in 2008 and 2010.

In her senior season, she was an Indiana All-Star and a First Team All-State selection. She ended her high school career with 1,944 points and graduated as Canterbury’s all-time career leader in rebounds with 1,157.

When Gerardot left Canterbury to go to Valparaiso, she left her home and family behind to begin her college career.

“It was a big decision to leave,” Gerardot said, “but I realized that if I didn’t do those things that I wouldn’t grow in the areas I really needed to grow in.”

***

Gerardot is driven by faith.

Her parents are both religious people, but Gerardot said she they never pushed her to follow in their footsteps.

Her faith and commitment to God was her own decision, she said. It has become a major part of who she is.

“I think that’s the biggest thing about me that influences my life,” she said. “To realize that he’s watching all the time and cares what we do — that’s what motivates me.”

Miller often talks about needing to build a championship locker room before building a championship team. He said he believes the foundation of a rebuilding process needs to be getting the right types of personalities in the locker room at leadership positions to set the tone for the program and what it means to be a Hoosier.

Gerardot has been a carbon copy of the mode Miller wants his players to follow. It’s why he wanted her to be a Hoosier.

“It’s not only on the court, intangible things that we believe are very important to our program,” Miller said. “It’s how you carry yourself off the court.”

But as Gerardot will tell you, she’s far from a perfect person.

She admits sometimes she takes things too seriously. She risks putting too much pressure on herself and her young teammates to perform well. Miller said since coming to IU, Gerardot’s teammates have helped her learn to relax more.

“Our team, on the other hand, has allowed Tabitha to lighten up a little bit and to realize you can still be a real Christian kid, you can still do all the right things, but you are allowed to have fun,” he said. “The team has coached Tabitha into letting her guard down and having more fun and not taking everything so serious.”

***

During a preseason workout, freshman guard Taylor Agler snapped a picture of Gerardot in the training room looking slightly out of place.

Gerardot was standing on a piece of training equipment looking down with a thick book in her arms — getting a quick study session in during training.

“Sometimes, there’s just not enough hours in the day,” Gerardot said with a laugh. “So yes, I bring my studying into the athletics room often.”

Gerardot graduated from Valparaiso a year early with a double major in French and Spanish. One of the major reasons she left Valparaiso in the first place was to pursue a master’s in linguistics at IU.

She speaks French, Spanish, Italian and Swahili along with English. She learned Spanish and French in high school and picked up Italian in her spare time.

“The rumor is that I’m fluent in Swahili and Italian, but I’m not fluent yet in those,” Gerardot said.

She’s starting to take classes in Chinese at IU and wants to learn German. She said language has fascinated her since she started learning Spanish in her freshman year of high school.

Her ability to study language and communication has sometimes led to her over-analyzing situations on the court.

“Sometimes I pay too close attention to details, and what people say and on the competitive floor what you say isn’t always what people mean,” Gerardot said.

***

Tabitha Gerardot is a one-and-done player at IU.

Despite the Hoosiers’ recent history of struggles — IU was predicted to finish last in the Big Ten in the preseason coaches’ poll — Gerardot said she came to IU hoping to help the Hoosiers have a chance at an NCAA Tournament run.

It’s a dream she has had since she was a little kid.

“I have wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament forever,” Gerardot said. “When I came here, that was exactly what I wanted to do.”

During recruitment, Miller explained the incoming class of freshmen and their potential helped sell Gerardot on joining the team.

Her decision to come to IU has resulted in her being a part of the most successful start to a season in IU women’s basketball history.

“She’s definitely a key to our team,” senior forward Simone Deloach said. “It’s just been great to have her for this last year. She’s definitely contributed a lot.”

With three regular season games remaining before the Big Ten Tournament and a potential NCAA Tournament run begins, Gerardot said the closing stretch of the Big Ten season is crucial.

She came to IU for a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, and she said she intends to keep pushing herself in quest for a chance to go to the big dance.

“I’m excited about what has happened with our record, but we’re still fighting,” Gerardot said. “We’ve got more games to play and they’re all going to matter, especially towards the NCAA’s and Big Ten.”

The perfect ending to her college career would be raising a national championship banner as a Hoosier.

“I mean, that’s what everybody’s going for,” Gerardot said. “I don’t want to set the standards any lower, but I also know that takes a tremendous amount of work.”

***

During player introductions against Penn State last Thursday, Gerardot’s name was the first to be called.

In her lone year at IU, Geardot has become a staple in the Hoosier lineup. She has appeared in all 25 games, 21 of which she has started.

She’s second in the team in scoring at 9.6 points per game and second in rebounding with 5.8 rebounds per game.?The lights of Assembly Hall turn off. The spotlight shines down on Gerardot as she is introduced.

“At forward, a 6-foot-1 senior from Fort Wayne, Indiana: Tabitha Gerardot.”

She jumps up and runs through tunnel of clapping teammates. At the end of the tunnel she’s greeted by another graduate student, Sasha Chaplin.

Chaplin, the most experienced Hoosier player, has made Gerardot feel at home at IU. Gerardot said she feels more like a veteran Hoosier than a new kid on the block.

Gerardot leaps into the air smiling, arms fully extended to high five Chaplin. She takes her spot awaiting the other starters and wipes the bottoms of her shoes.

As freshman guard Larryn Brooks runs by, Gerardot cracks a smile while giving her a high five.

Gerardot said she has taken it upon herself to try to work with younger players and give them the senior leadership and perspective they need.

“I just think I understand where they’re coming from and the battles and how it goes,” Gerardot said.

It’s the exact role Miller brought Gerardot to the team to fill.

“The players really look up to Tabitha,” Miller said

Gerardot and the rest of the starters huddle for a last-second discussion before taking their spots on the court.

She lines up just a few feet away from mid-court where Deloach is preparing to battle for possession on the jump ball.

As the referee throws the ball into the air, Gerardot watches Penn State win possession.

She begins to backtrack towards the North end of the court, yelling “woah” as she scrambles to matchup with a defender.

A Penn State layup attempt gets blocked and the Hoosiers take the ball the other way. Gerardot misses on her first 3-point attempt of the game, but without much reaction she heads back and matches up on defense again.

Gerardot will be one of four seniors to be honored on senior night Saturday against Illinois at Assembly Hall.

She is only guaranteed four more jump balls — four more opportunities to be an IU women’s basketball player.

Four more chances to play for her new home.

Follow reporter Sam Beishuizen on Twitter @Sam_Beishuizen.