Women’s college basketball: Elyria High, Oberlin College star Gilbert back home
Matt Florjancic | The Chronicle-Telegram
AnnMarie Gilbert knew only one way to play the game of basketball — with heart and intensity.
The former Elyria Pioneer star and Ohio Ms. Basketball brings the same type of passion to the floor as a coach that she did as a player.
In her second year as Eastern Michigan University’s head women’s coach, Gilbert brought her Eagles to Cleveland on Tuesday for a non-conference game with the Cleveland State Vikings — a 76-67 loss. Gilbert and the Eagles returned to Cleveland after competing in the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals down the road at Quicken Loans Arena last March.
“It’s really exciting,” Gilbert, a former Oberlin College player and coach, said of returning home. “At the end of the year, I get a chance to come back, but it’s so refreshing to be able to start the year near my hometown and have some family and friends be able to come and watch us play. I’ve got two kids on the team from Ohio, so I’m excited to bring them home.”
Gilbert’s love of basketball started at an early age. Being the first girl in a family with four older brothers, she developed an interest in the game. With dedication and determination, Gilbert has turned her favorite hobby into her life’s work and passion.
“Elyria has a great tradition and all my brothers played at Elyria High School,” she said. “I just grew up loving being a Pioneer. My roots were shaped there in terms of loving the game. My oldest brother was just inducted into the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame.
“I’m the oldest girl of eight kids. When I came along, it was really me competing against the four older brothers while my younger sisters were growing up. I always had someone better than me to go against to teach me the ropes. They encouraged and helped grow my competitive spirit.”
Her coaching days began after a successful playing career that featured stops at Ohio University and Oberlin College. When a coaching change at Ohio occurred, Gilbert left the city of Athens behind to pursue a career at Oberlin.
“The program was a pretty good program when I got to Ohio University,” Gilbert said. “We were just coming off the Top 25 and it was an exciting time. Right after my second year, the head coach (Amy Pritchard) was fired. I had never been through the Division I process. It was like ‘Bright Lights and Big Dreams.’
“There were a couple athletes from the Lorain County area that transferred back to Oberlin College. They said, ‘Hey, you might want to visit here if you’re not happy at OU. This is a great place. It’s really diverse and you’ll have an opportunity to really dominate.’ I visited and really believed those things to be true.”
While at Oberlin as a player, Gilbert was a two-time All-American, North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year and the Honda Division III Athlete of the Year in 1991. She also earned the Champion USA/WBCA Player of the Year award.
In just two seasons, Gilbert became the college’s all-time leading scorer with 1,527 points, a mark that has since been surpassed. Gilbert’s jersey was retired in 1994 and she earned induction into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. She still holds 10 NCAA Division III records.
“I have a never-quit spirit,” Gilbert said. “I have tried to instill that in my players. Discipline in the No. 1 thing. You have to be self-motivated and self-disciplined as a player. I’ve tried to recruit kids that are built that way. A real blue-collar mentality is what my philosophy is based and grounded in. I got that as a player.
“My high school coach was Jim Vincent. I thought he was a real tough-love kind of coach. He taught me a lot of great things that I’ve tried to carry on and instill in my players. I’ll never forget it.”
Gilbert served as Oberlin women’s head coach from 1994-2002. Her 58 wins ranks first all-time in school history.
Prior to taking the reigns at Eastern Michigan, Gilbert had a successful assistant coaching stint at Michigan State University. In East Lansing, she helped the Lady Spartans get to the 2005 National Championship game against the Baylor Bears.
“My experience at Michigan State gave me a blue-print for success,” Gilbert said. “I was fortunate enough to be with a lady who had a great vision. I got to experience someone put a vision into action. I took as much of that as I could to my first year of being a head coach at Eastern Michigan. In our first year, we clinched our division championship in the MAC West.”
One of Gilbert’s areas of responsibility at Michigan State was recruiting. While Coach Joanne McCallie molded and formed the talent to play in the system, Gilbert made sure skilled players committed to Michigan State.
With the right players to fit Gilbert’s style at Eastern Michigan, she may be able to duplicate the success she experienced as an assistant with the Spartans.
“I like to surround myself with worker bees that use the philosophy that basketball is a microcosm of life,” Gilbert said. “At Michigan State, I was fortunate enough to have the resources to recruit on a national scale and recruit against the UConns, Tennessees and Dukes. We were able to put together a group of young women that were able to fight their way to the national championship.
“I hope that we can repeat that type of effort as we make our way and leave our mark at Eastern Michigan. I really do believe the Class of 2009 is one of the top classes in the state of Michigan. We put together a great class because we get personal with our recruiting. We don’t just recruit the kid, we recruit all of the individuals that are support people for that recruit.”
Contact Matt Florjancic at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Matt Florjancic | The Chronicle-Telegram November 19th, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 4% |
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