Very Superstitious
January 14, 2006 09:42 AM | General
January 14, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Attention Chakhia Cole: do not read this. Treat this as if you just saw a black cat walking underneath a stepladder right next to a broken mirror. Just go in the opposite direction.
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| Sophomore forward Chakhia Cole is had back-to-back 20-point games in wins over Syracuse and Louisville.
All-Pro Photography |
Right now West Virginia University sophomore forward Chakhia Cole is playing the best basketball of her career. In her last two games, the Marlboro, N.J., resident has matched her career-high of 20 points in victories over Syracuse and Louisville. What’s more, she has made an incredible 17 of 20 shots while also pulling down 17 rebounds and handing out nine assists.
Not coincidentally, West Virginia (9-4, 2-1) is also playing its best basketball of the season. Of course these are all things that Cole doesn’t want to hear about because she’s easily the most superstitious person this side of Nancy Reagan.
“Don’t tell me these things -- this is going to jinx us,” she giggled. “I’m probably one of the most superstitious girls on the team.”
To say Cole’s pre-game routine is ritualistic is an understatement. Keeping track of all of them is nearly impossible. At any rate, here goes. First, there is the same travel uniform she wears to class for home games and on the road during away games. Then, she has to listen to the exact same songs in the same order. Also, there are the telephone calls first to her aunt, and then to her mother and father. After that it’s a relaxing shower before putting on the same socks, tights, etc.
“Of course it's all washed,” she says.
Chakhia also eats the same pre-game meal unless she discovers that something she ate might have caused the team to lose. “I’ll be thinking -- the last time I ate that we didn’t play so well,” Cole said.
Uh, yeah.
Perhaps her most bizarre idiosyncrasy is tying her shoes 35 times before each game – 22 for her left shoe and 13 for her right.
“This is horrible,” Cole said. “It’s so bad but I can’t help it. I cannot even split a pole. I try to hide it so nobody knows that I’m so superstitious,” she says.
That person you saw walking down the street missing all of those cracks to keep from breaking her mother’s back: Chakhia Cole.
There is, of course, a lot more to Cole’s game than just superstition. Already establishing a reputation as a tough, physical defender who Coach Mike Carey always puts on the opposing team’s best player, Cole is also becoming a legitimate scoring threat. She has lifted her overall season average to 10.6 points per game and in the not-so-secret world of Big East basketball, the word is already getting out: you better guard Chakhia Cole.
“I want to take some of the pressure off of Yinka (Sanni), Meg (Bulger) and Britney (Davis-White),” said Cole. “If there are three or four weapons out on the court then teams are going to have to play us a little more honestly.”
Cole admits there has been a lot of hard work and effort put forth on her part, too. It’s not just about crossing fingers, sneezing before breakfast, finding a four-leaf clover and the nine-peas-in-a-peapod type of stuff either. She spent many hours this summer in the gym working on her jump shot with women’s basketball graduate assistant coach Wesley Brooks.
“Some days I was like, ‘Can I stop?’” Cole said. “Wes was like, ‘No, this is how champions are made.’ He’s so enthusiastic with it so I’m thinking if he’s this happy with it I should be even more enthused. I’m not going to quit until he’s tired.”
The hard work is finally paying off; Cole has become a much more confident shooter.
“You have to picture the ball in basket and it goes hand in hand,” she said. “If you don’t have the confidence to step up and take the shot you never know if you’re going to make it,” she said.
One word of advice, just don’t tell Chakhia Cole that she’s playing great right now. She’d just prefer to leave well enough alone.
Briefly: West Virginia faces Georgetown Saturday afternoon following the men’s game against Marquette … WVU is coming off its best performance of the season Tuesday night against Louisville, shooting better than 71 percent in the first half and cruising to a 26-point victory … junior guard Meg Bulger continues to lead the Mountaineers in scoring with an average of 20 points per game … Georgetown is 8-6 overall and is 1-2 in Big East play … the Hoyas have played better of late and own a non-conference victory over Clemson … West Virginia is 16-5 in its last 21 Big East home games … Saturday’s game will air on WAJR-AM (Morgantown), WAJR-FM (Clarksburg), WHIS-AM (Bluefield), WSWW (Charleston), WTCS (Fairmont), WDBE (Elkins) and through the Internet on CTSV All-Access.
