On Campus with Mary MacKillop,
tonight's guest is ACU women's
basketball player Claudia Slier,
who has just recently been named NCAA
Division two all-American.
Basketball, here's Gary McCaleb.
James Quartier, slier nursing
student who's recently been among the
first team all-American and the
NCAA Division two, congratulations
and thank you.
How does it feel to have
been just notified that your
name to the first team all-American?
Well, is pretty exciting.
It's been something I've been dreaming
about for years, and
I was hard to believe right at first.
As a matter of fact, it hadn't really
sunk in till I saw it written in the
paper today.
Just seeing it in print made it seem like
it came true, but it really is like a
dream come true.
Was it something that came a little
bit earlier in your college career
than you thought it might?
Oh, definitely.
I was hoping maybe by the time I was a
senior, but even that I was doubtful
about.
Um, I'd like to go back
first and talk about how you got started
in basketball. And we'll come back a
little later and talk about your time
here. And I see you, but you're from
Albuquerque, New Mexico, right?
When did you first
get involved with basketball?
I started playing in the seventh grade.
At that time, we lived in Tucson.
They don't have they don't have junior
high school basketball and New Mexico.
So it was a good thing. I started then
and then.
I really didn't have a desire to play
basketball. There was just nothing else
to do. There was no other sports for
girls.
So I just started playing.
I really didn't gain any interest in it,
probably until high school, but it was
just something to do to keep me busy.
So what time did you
in your in your high school career, did
you move from Tucson to Albuquerque?
Right. My freshman year.
I started in Albuquerque freshman year
and. Huh.
Well, when you look back upon your
high school
career.
Was it a natural it was it was your
interest in basketball a natural thing,
or was it something that you feel like
has developed over a period of years?
It's probably developed.
It started out, like I said, is something
just to keep me busy.
But I had an excellent coach in high
school and he really got me excited about
it and helped build my enthusiasm.
And so as the years went by and I
improved each year, I'd say
it developed. I got more excited.
What what type of teams were
your high school teams?
Excellent.
My sophomore year, I didn't play too
much, but we were ranked
eighth in the nation.
And then my junior year we were ranked
seventh.
And we were I won the state
championship twice while I was there.
Oh, is that right? Your new team?
My team won the
New Mexico State Championship.
Well, then, being a part of
championship basketball is not something
that's new to you than
getting recognition as as far
as your team as well as you're
your own individual ability.
Do you play other sports besides
basketball?
Oh, well, in high school, I played
softball in the off season, but
that was just a hobby, just something to
relax and do.
You don't play tennis or
now.
So pretty much.
Yeah.
You know, uh.
It's an interesting thing, because if you
were to go 10
or 15 years back before women's
collegiate sports were really as strong
as they are now,
if you'd come along to college,
a lot of different colleges, they would
have even had women's basketball.
In fact, here at ICU, women's basketball
hasn't been around all that long.
And I guess you're glad
that the sports have come in out of
women's athletics isn't being given more
attention?
Definitely. It's exciting.
Maybe. Who knows?
You know, when I'm older, it might
even be recognized even more, which I
think would be great.
OK, then when you finished your high
school career.
Had you definitely
planned on playing basketball in college,
was that something you wanted to do?
Yeah, I didn't want to stop after high
school.
And how did you make a decision about
where to go for college mostly?
Well, I knew right away that I wanted to
go to Christian school, so I didn't look
at any state colleges at all.
And I had it narrowed down for a long
time between Oklahoma Christian and here.
And that was a tough decision.
And finally, I knew more about this
school because my parents went here.
And I really like Coach McOwen to sound
like they had a good program.
So I just decided to come here.
I guess there were some other schools
that would have liked
for you to consider their school.
But since you had from the beginning
narrowed it down to a Christian school,
did you have anybody contact you about
their school that tried to encourage
you to change your mind about
the restrictions that you had placed and
where you wanted to go to school?
Well, I really didn't have too many
schools to begin with.
You were interested in me? I had a couple
of big ones. Missouri State was one.
She was probably the most interested.
And she kept calling and calling me.
And I kept telling her that I was
interested in a Christian school.
And so finally she backed off.
She's real nice about it. So I didn't
really have problems with that.
When you think about making the
transition from high school basketball to
college basketball, was it much of a
change for you?
Was was a senior
basketball playing as a senior in high
school that much different from playing
as a freshman in college?
Yeah, definitely.
By the time you're a senior in high
school, you've been around the high
school program for four years.
You know what it's like playing high
school ball. And then when you jump right
into college, it's your first year.
It's a much more physical game.
You start out at the bottom.
You're not the leader anymore.
So it's it's pretty intimidating
sometimes.
How tall are you, five, eight
and three quarters.
Five, eight and three quarters?
Well, that's not particularly tall,
certainly not for me, but it's really not
even tall for women's basketball.
That may be one of the reasons, I
suppose, that you said earlier there
weren't too many schools talking.
Do you think your height made a
difference as far as
what they were looking for at college?
That's possible because in high school we
had a short team. So I played a lot of
post and you just don't go
into college expecting to play post at
five nine.
So.
When you came to see you,
the type of girls that
you were playing with here, were you
aware that you were a part of
a different level of
play of basketball than
what you had been in high school?
That's what I was hoping for.
I nuisance as a Christian school.
I was hoping that the girls would be like
that. But it wasn't until after I
finished the season last year that I
really realized I feel really
blessed and privileged to play in the
group of girls like we have.
And I'm really happy and I know I
wouldn't be happy playing at a state
school. You know, it's so hard and rare
to find a team like we have here so
close.
I want to get onto some other dimensions
of your college life a little bit later
so that as we continue to talk about
basketball.
Probably one of the reasons
I know it's not the only reason, probably
one of the reasons why you were named
First Team of America is because you were
also the number one scorer.
You had the highest scoring average in
NCAA Division two this year at twenty
five, about twenty five point one
points per game average,
which is an exceptionally high
average.
And means that you are
looked to as a.
As one of the members of the team that is
expected to produce points and again.
In other words, if you get used to
Klaudia scoring twenty five points a game
and then all of a sudden a game comes
along and Claudia doesn't score twenty
five points in a game, obviously
that makes a difference. How do you feel
pressure from that?
I mean, you I have before it
really affected me at the beginning of
the season because I had a couple games
right after Christmas where I played
pretty bad.
But when I do play games like that, it
just helps a team realize, you know, that
you can't really depend on me so much.
And that's fine, because when I don't
score, the other members pick up the
slack. So really, we don't we don't
really have a problem with that.
When you when you after
you've played a few games at the
beginning of the year, the other teams
begin to know that you're the high
score on the team.
You start finding them coming into the
game with a special defense or guarding
you more closely or are
trying to do special things to keep you
from scoring as many points.
Occasionally I found that sometimes I was
being double teamed, and especially when
I try and drive, I'd find myself being
collapsed on.
And that was really one of my weaknesses
this year because that can really be good
for our team.
That's something I really need to work on
because obviously if there's two or three
people on me, there's going to be some
people open.
So I find that that's going to help our
team more than hurt.
And if they try to over
defend on you, then it ought to
open up something else.
We have plenty good shooters, so.
Yeah, great.
Well, looking back on this season, how do
you feel about it?
Did you accomplish what your team did?
The team accomplished what you hope to
accomplish this year?
Well, as a team, I hope we would have got
a lot farther. I thought we had the
potential to go much farther than we did.
I was happy that we won the conference,
our share the conference title again.
And it ended kind of bitter, though, I'd
have to say. But it was a good season.
When you look back and think of the games
that we won, it was nice.
Why did you say it ended kind of bitter
or what?
Well, we were definitely
the favorites going into the tournament.
The Southwest Texas was, too.
And to let you know, to have
a bad game in that first round and just
in your season before anyone expected
it to, you made it kind of bitter.
So when you look back on this season, how
do you think you'll remember it?
Well, a good memory.
It'll be a great memory when I
look back and remember it, I don't
remember particularly the the games
that we won, the points that we scored,
the thing that I will remember about the
season as a people, you know, the good
times that we had on our trips, just
the closeness of the team that I'll
make a good memory.
Now, how many you're a sophomore,
so you've got two more years to play
here, which is naturally very
exciting to all of us here.
I see, you know, you're going to be
around for two more years, but
how many of the players in the team would
you be losing this year?
In other words, will not be back for next
year.
Well, we're losing Caroline, Rejean
and Caleigh and everyone
else should be returning.
So what do you expect for next year's
team?
Good, thanks. Coaches hoping to recruit a
couple of good players.
So I think we should be a lot stronger
next year.
You don't think that this is
the high point?
In other words, that this team you're
playing with as a sophomore is going to
be the best team you've played on that
you're peaking this year and then your
junior and senior year are going to be
down years?
Definitely not.
I think we'll all get better,
hopefully.
What is it if you try to analyze
your game, what are
the things about you
that you feel like have contributed to
your your success in basketball?
Oh, that's hard to say, I think
one thing I feel like
God is blessed with the good, with a
smart mind, and I think that really helps
on the court.
I it helps give me a sense
of what's going on around, and that's
something I feel fortunate about.
I think that contributes in all areas,
taking smart shots, making smart passes,
knowing when to dribble a ball and not
to. I think that's mostly
what helps is just the mind that
God gave me.
I think when you look
back over the years you've spent since
you started playing basketball.
How do you feel like you've spent a lot
of time practicing
what
you know, sometimes I think people see
someone that is as
as talented an athlete as you and
think, well, it's just all natural
ability.
You know, she can just walk out there and
do it and and they may not appreciate
how much you've practiced and worked.
And I
assume that that's true in your case.
And because it seems
to be in almost every case, when you look
back over the championship
athletes, you find out
that they all feel like that the reason
they did is because they worked and they
worked and they kept working and practice
over and over.
How do you remember practices
you like practicing or do you find that
distasteful?
I like practice and it gives you a chance
to work on things you need to work on.
Sometimes, of course, it'll get old.
But it's a good opportunity to just work
on moves and things like that.
How important is discipline,
self-discipline to basketball?
Very important.
I think that is the most important thing
in basketball.
That's something that my coach in
high school really stressed.
I think that's what made us such a good
team in high school. We were a very
disciplined team.
How important is.
Well, it's it's
hard to say, I think it's crucial that
nowadays in college basketball that you
need a big, tall center
just for the factor of intimidation.
But as far as relating
to skill level, I don't think there's
really any correlation there.
It's just good to have that one big
intimidating person.
But I think you can have plenty
of short people that can match up with,
you know, taller people.
How do you feel about, um, you
know, there are a lot of people who say
today that one of the problems with a
sport like basketball is that it's
become too much of an individual
game rather than a real team,
and that, uh,
that's to the detriment of basketball,
because basketball was meant
to be a really real team sport,
rather than just five individuals out
there playing their own game and
showing off. And of course, and I
guess maybe more in men's basketball and
women's dunking the ball and doing all
the kind of showy type of things.
Uh, what is your feeling about a team
approach to basketball?
I think that's what basketball is all
about, his team.
I don't think our team would
be near as good as good.
I don't think we do near as good as we
did. If we would have been five
individual players.
When you just break our team down and
just look at the individual players, you
know, we have plenty of good people.
But I think the strength on our team is
the fact that we play as a team.
We I would not have
been a leading scorer in the nation if
my teammates did not play team ball,
hit me with the ball, you know, hit me
when I was open.
I won that honor because we played
as a team.
I believe we need to
take a break here, but please
stay with us because we're going to be
back in just a minute and talk with
Claudia about another very
interesting and important dimension of
her life.
Abilene Christian University is a place
where people really matter, a concept
held since the school's beginning in
1996.
Well, today, more than 4500 students
from across the nation enroll in ICU
in the middle of west Texas because they
know it's where people really matter.
The university's academic program
reflects people orientation and
preparation on both the undergraduate and
graduate levels.
If you agree that people really matter,
you love Abilene Christian University.
I especially appreciate about you
is you're the type of person who can give
college athletics the good name that it
really deserves, because
sometimes people think that the athletes,
when they come to college, all they care
about is athletics.
But I know in your case, there's a lot
more to being in college than just the
athletics, although you obviously
have demonstrated you do well in
athletics.
What is your major year in college?
I majored in biology and premed.
You plan to go to medical school and
when you finish.
Yeah, I'd like to get into sports
medicine, so probably go to medical
school for years.
And so now as you're about to complete
your second full year of college,
what is your grade point average?
4.0, 4.0,
all A's for two years
with nothing but eyes in every course
that you've taken.
That's I think that's just
as worthy of congratulations as you're
all American honors.
We're really proud of you for that reason
as well.
The the aspect of having to practice
every day during basketball season has
to take a toll on the time
that you would otherwise have to
do your studies, how
do you balance
excellence and performance
in athletics with maintaining excellence
in your performance with academics?
You don't sleep.
Is that practice time studying?
I was a lot of late nights.
That's what it's just a lot of sacrifice.
Sometimes people wonder if it's really
worth it to just maintain a 4.0.
I know other people don't agree with me,
but it's worth it to me to just
miss out on sleep to get the
point out.
Why is it worth it to.
Why is it important to you, too?
In other words, apparently it's very
important to you to excel
apparently in practically everything you
do. But here we see a good example
of you excelling in both academics
and athletics while you're in college.
Why is that? Why do you think you've been
motivated to do that?
Well, I thought about that a lot.
People have asked me that before.
And I come to the same conclusion every
time.
The way I feel about it, I feel like
God's really blessed me with the
abilities, like I said before,
with a good mind and with the strong,
healthy body.
And it's given me the ability to play
basketball.
And I feel like he could have just as
easily given those talents to somebody
else, but he entrusted them to me.
And so I think it's all in my obligation
to just develop those to the fullest
potential.
And I think doing anything less and that
is sort of selling God short.
And I think I'd be horrible.
But do you ever get
tired and begin to think,
I really don't know if I can keep this
up?
Definitely, but what
keeps you going?
Just keep thinking that over and over and
just keep pushing myself.
And it's like and how horrible it would
be to see a three point eight hour.
And let me ask you about this.
You know, do you realize
that there are already young,
younger children who know who Claudius
Larry is and comes to?
They come to the games and watch Claudia
Slaughter and now she's become
all-American and they're
you know, you're an example to younger
people.
How does that make you feel?
It has a lot of pressure.
It just makes me be careful and
everything that I do because there's
no way for me to tell who all,
like you said, the little kids are who
you look up to me. I can never know who
they are. And so that just makes me
more cautious at all times.
Just to set the example that I need to
set.
You know, some athletes, I think,
sort of cop out on that point and say,
that's not my responsibility.
I'm going to live my own life and
I can't help it if, you know,
if that affects somebody else's life or
anything like that, which seems to be a
little bit of a shortsighted
view of their role in
the world. It seems like to a certain
extent that sort of comes along
with the territory. Definitely.
I think it's very important to set the
example, the little kids.
Basketball is a really
emotional game.
It's pretty difficult to play basketball
and not feel some emotion out there,
isn't it? Definitely.
How do you balance between
having the right amount of emotion,
but not so much emotion that
emotions get out of control?
I'm working on that.
I've had problems with that ever since I
started playing.
I'm getting better at it.
But I still have that problem
where occasionally I'll just
have outbursts.
And it's really tough.
I just it's just something it's
all a matter of mind.
You just have to set your mind that
you're not going to let anything body,
which is much easier to say than to do.
It's all just a matter of mine, though,
was the type of things that might bother
you during the game, the constant
pushing and shoving under the basket or
nothing's Scob that can really
get on your nerves as it goes on
and on and on.
It can just really just start messing up.
Yeah. And so how do you deal with
that? If you learn, you sometimes feel
like there may be somebody that's really
intentionally trying to
get you upset or not feel
like you react.
I don't know if that's the case, but you
just can't help but get that feeling as
it keeps going on.
And so how do you deal with that?
It's hard, I don't deal with it very
well.
I really can't answer that because that's
something I'm really struggling with.
I think I think I would have to say,
in case somebody is watching that hasn't
seen you play that that you're being very
modest about that, because I think you
really do deal with it very well.
I've watched you play a number of games
and you always seem to.
To really maintain control
and play under control and, you
know, in athletics, that's one that's one
thing. Sometimes a player gets so
emotional or so keyed up
that they really play out of control
and they start trying to move too fast
down the court or they start trying to
play beyond
their real abilities.
And it seems every player has got to sort
of stay inside himself
as far as playing under control.
I think you really do that.
Well, thank you.
I think what I did was
say the things I did because I really get
keyed up inside.
I feel like I must be just really
exploding up on the outside because I get
so intense inside.
So sometimes I might feel I can get more
out of control. And actually am I guess.
Do you feel.
Do you feel. How do you feel about the
role of the college athlete?
On the campus, you know, there are a lot
of things being said today about
collegiate sports getting completely
out of perspective, that
students ought to be coming to college to
study and that
sometimes they're coming to college
through everything but study.
Do you have any particular thoughts along
the line of the collegiate athlete?
I think it's sad those people who come to
college just mess around is to play ball.
Sure, they're good athletes, but there's
so many other people, I'm sure, out there
who could who really can't come
to a college, who would love to just have
that opportunity.
I think it's sad to waste an education
when when you're given to when you're on
scholarship to waste an education, I
think is is terrible.
What do you feel like?
Having played basketball.
Has contributed to your the
rest of your life.
I think more than anything, it teaches
you to get along with people think that's
one of the lessons I learned early on.
If you have to learn to build
each other up, not to cut down
each other, you have to put up with the
dangerous mistakes.
You have to learn that when you make
mistakes, other people are going to let
them slide, are going to encourage you.
It just mostly helps you just to learn to
work as a team to get along with other
people.
When you when you
finish playing basketball, when your
college days are over, do
you think you'll miss it?
Oh, definitely.
Oh yeah, I don't ever want them to end.
You don't think you'll be glad that it's
finally over and.
It might be nice to be through a stadium,
but I don't ever want to, Poyan.
Why do you think that is, why is it
become that important to you?
I love to play.
First of all, I really love the game,
but I love being with the people.
It's just an opportunity that you only
have for four years.
And, boy, they fly by.
I found that out these past two.
And that's just an opportunity you don't
have again.
And it's just that close contact every
day practicing what seems to be a drag
when an off season.
You miss those practices because you miss
seeing and being with the people.
So I think that's what I miss most.
And you don't feel that you resent.
Basketball for having taken up time that
made you stayed up late, stay up late at
night to study.
That's what I want to do.
I like the way it's going
when you have chances
to talk to younger.
Younger age children.
Would you encourage them to participate
in athletics?
Definitely.
Like I said before, the most important
lesson I feel that it teaches them is to
get along with other people.
I think that's the lesson that everybody
needs to learn.
And I don't think there's any better way
to learn it than to work on a team.
Now that, uh, that you've
had this happen to you during your
sophomore year, which you said earlier
you thought may have come a little
earlier than you expected it to come.
Is there any danger that this will,
uh.
Because you feel like now there's nothing
to go on and shoot for.
Have you accomplished your major goal two
years earlier than you expected to?
And now there's nothing left for your
junior and senior year to shoot?
Oh, no, you can.
Next year, I'll just be shooting for all
American again.
And hopefully I can just push
myself improve and maybe
repeat it. But there's no way
I want to. I'm satisfied right now.
I just like to keep going.
How do you think?
The attention
that you'll be getting for the next two
years, in other words, obviously every
game, realistically, you have to know
that next year, the first game that you
play, the other team is going to know
they've got this all American on that
team. Claudia Schlatter.
How is everybody going to be gunning for
you next year?
I guess they will be.
It's hard for me to believe that, but
realistic, like you said, I guess they
would be. But that's fine,
because that makes me even want to
improve even more if if
they're going to try and stop me even
harder than I'm going to have to try even
harder to.
To play this as well.
Most people say that in college.
For most students, you have the academic
life and the social life.
If you're doing.
All that you're doing in athletics and
all that you're doing in academics, do
you feel that those two are
totally taking
away the time for you to have
a social life as far as just having
friends and and feeling a part
of the student body and doing the
things that maybe
most of the other students are doing as
far as college life
is concerned?
It can be, I believe
the first year, my freshman year here, I
really cut down on my social life quite a
bit, I think.
But I learned this
year that I like
like I said, I spend up late nights.
Well, part of that is because I try and
get a little social life and start my
studying a little bit later.
So but it is hard to get it
all in. You just have to.
It's a matter of sacrifice.
Have you found that you have to
to develop a particularly
specific schedule for what you're going
to do with your time during the day?
Do you have a schedule that
you pretty well stay with for when you
study and when you're practicing
and so forth?
Pretty much. I think about it the day
you know, when I get up that morning,
think about what all I have to do and
there's no way I can get it all done if I
just don't get right to things.
Can you look back over your
years?
Well, let's just go back through high
school and college.
Are there any particular significant
things that you think have happened that
made a difference for you?
Either particular people are events
or circumstances that may
have made a difference in you being able
to achieve what you achieved so far?
I have to give all of the credit,
practically all of it, to my high school
coach, Coach Flanagan.
He's an unbelievable coach he
took me from.
I was probably pretty pathetic player,
I didn't have many skills at all, and he
worked with me and he just
worked on my jump, shot me on my ball
handling.
And he's turned out so many good players
out of that school, he's just he's
an excellent coach.
Thank you for being with us today.
I'm sorry we're out of time.
And congratulations again on
that very significant honor of being all
America. And also, congratulations on
that 4.0 GPA.
Thanks.
And thank you for being with us on
campus.