While NCAA Division I basketball earns most of the media spotlight, it's important to remember that there are plenty of great teams and players in Divisions II and III. One of the best this past season was Kari Groshek, who helped lead the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to the Division III national championship.

UW-Stevens Point defeated St. Lawrence University, 67-65, on March 16 to win the school's second national championship. (The Pointers also won the title in 1987.) Along the way, they beat four-time defending national champs Washington University.

"I could think of no better way to end a career," said Groshek after winning the title game, in which she totaled 12 points and nine rebounds. "It's a dream come true. To win this is unbelievable."

This season, the 6'0" post player averaged a team-leading 15.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game for the Pointers, who finished with a 30-3 record. Groshek finished her Pointer career as the school's third all-time leading scorer with 1,414 points. Her 495 points this season is the second highest single-season total in school history, just four points shy of the record. Groshek's 679 career rebounds rank fourth on the all-time list.

In recognition of her success on and off the court, Groshek was named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Player of the Year, WIAC Scholar-Athlete (presented to the outstanding senior student athlete in each conference sport), Second-Team Verizon Academic All-American, and one of the 10 finalists for the Josten's Trophy, which honors Division III basketball's top student-athletes ( both male and female).

In the following interview, Groshek talks about playing hoops in D-III, overcoming a knee injury, and the team's dream season.

Gball: Were you surprised by your team's post-season success?
Groshek: I knew we had a good team. We all set a goal to make it into the NCAAs, but I had personally had set another goal to get to the Final Four. But you don't want to expect it until you get there.

To what do you attribute your team's playoff run?
We had finished second in our conference, with two losses. Then we wanted to win the conference tournament, but we didn't do that, so we had to get an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. I think that knowing it was do-or-die time helped us. After we lost in the conference tournament, we were crushed--that wasn't how we wanted our season to go.

But the we got the bid to the tournament and I think our whole team really stepped up. We knew we had to win now if we wanted to go all the way. We had some obstacles, like having to play Washington in the second round--they were the four-time defending national champs. But we knew we had a good enough team.

How did you beat Washington?
Our defense was really strong all year, and I don't think they were prepared to meet a defense as strong as ours. They had played some good teams, but in the WIAC we play really good competition, too. We didn't really do anything different against them. We just played our game and came out on top.

Why did you choose to attend a Division III school?
Stevens Point was basically the only school that recruited me. My team during my senior year in high school wasn't very good, and didn't win many games. We live 20 miles from Stevens Point, and the college has a really good biology program, which attracted me. I figured I might as well play basketball if I'm going to school there anyway.

Division III must offer a lot of things that Division I schools can't. You're probably more of a student-athlete than an athlete-student.
Right. It is demanding, but I don't think it's half as much as Division I. If we have something we need to get done for class or school, our coach will let us take off practice. She knows we're there for school first, then to play basketball.

What ways has your game improved since freshman year?
I've come a long way. I play in the post, but coming in as a freshman I was really skinny and kind of not ready for college ball. Then, when I'd get the ball in the post I'd only shoot a turnaround jump shot. But over the past two years, especially--I redshirted my junior season--I've been watching what people were doing on the court, and getting the extra year helped to improve my game in that way. I've come a long way, too, in mentally approaching the game. As a freshman I was scared and nervous and tentative. But I've developed into a leader, so to speak.

You injured your knee two years ago. How did that happen?
We had already played two games that year in our first tournament. At practice, I planted my leg and turned at the same time, and my knee just popped. I tore my ACL. When I look back at it now, I'm glad it happened because it allowed me to stay with this team one more year. The coach [Shirley Egner] brought in a lot of good underclassmen the past two years, so I knew we were going to be a really good team. Just sitting out made me realize how much you take it for granted when you're out there, and how much more I wanted to play now that I couldn't.

Did your knee affect you at all when you returned for your junior season?
Not really, I had my best season to date, scoring more than 400 points and played really well. It really didn't bother me during the season--I think I missed one practice because it was sore.

What are your plans after college?
I think I'm done playing basketball, except for pickup games. I'd like to coach someday, maybe. But first I plan to apply to school to become a physician's assistant.

What do you do for fun?
Besides basketball, I like to play volleyball. I was recruited to play volleyball here, but I decided not to because the seasons ran into each other too much. I like to read and do crossword puzzles, and I also like to run. Now that the season's over, I'll have more time to do stuff like that.

What advice would you give to younger girls who want to play college basketball?
They have to understand that, yeah, Division I is great, but there are three levels of college ball, and there's nothing wrong with playing Division III. There's really good competition there.

Also, you have to work hard at everything, and work at your weaknesses the most. I had a really bad left hand in high school, but I kept at it and now it's pretty good. You have to work at what you're not good at. And don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it--you never know until you try.

Interview conducted by Gball Editor Jim Catalano.


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