Senior Hayley Leake has the dubious honor of being the oldest player on the roster in 2007-08. The Billikens will count on her experience in the backcourt to run the offense with the same efficiency and heady play that she has demonstrated in her 3 years as point guard

In addition to always making the correct pass and avoiding three pointers at all costs, Hayley loves discovering new music, reading the nutritional content of everyone else’s food, and writing really big words on paper.

She becomes the first senior to ever write in the player diaries and we look for her to give us a different perspective of a collegiate student athlete as someone who’s been there and done that. Let’s follow Hayley as she experiences her last 5 months of being a Division 1 basketball player.
The Diaries – HAYLEY LEAKE


More Than Numbers – Diary Entry #5


I had spent three long years walking off the court on the wrong side of things with them—the buzzer sounded this time and our team finally got its fairy tale ending against the Charlotte 49ers—the biggest win for this program since Coach Gray-Miller started putting the pieces together a few years ago. Aside from this victory, we had started the conference season 2-0—it has been over 20 years since the Lady Bills had started conference play with two straight wins. We now stand at the 4-3 mark at the halfway point of our conference schedule—tied for fifth in the conference, and already matched our total number of conference wins from last season. Now, most of you who are familiar with me know that I am not big on numbers; I am an English person and numbers only complicate things. I have never put much emphasis on records, rankings or statistics—and it’s a good thing, too. My career would prove to be nothing but a disappointment otherwise—until now, that is... But what people do not understand is that this game, and even the success experienced by the team this season, was not won or lost a few nights ago—it was decided much earlier than that—and when that buzzer went off, I felt like I could have fell to my knees…

Some people have expressed to me that they could only imagine how frustrated, disappointed and cheated I must feel to be ending my career just when everything seems to be coming together for this program—just when the numbers are looking better—just when winning is becoming an expectation and not a question—just when this program is finally experiencing the benefits that have went into tearing every aspect of ourselves down and finding a way to build ourselves back up. But, they just do not get it. As crazy and ridiculous as it may sound, I would not change a thing about the experiences of my career—these experiences gave me my best friends. These experiences pushed me further than I ever thought I could go. These experiences made me believe in things unseen. When I walked off the court last Saturday night, I was not the only one who experienced a victory—nor was it only a victory for the individuals that make up this team. I thought about the others. I thought about the ones that fell to the ground everyday in practice for hours and hours. I thought about the ones that lined up on the baseline time after time—running one sprint after another—trying to listen to their hearts and not their legs. I thought about the ones that stood on the sidelines with tears running down their faces trying to figure out something that they could not possibly understand. And, for what? Not for numbers. Not for championships. It was to earn respect. It was to show commitment to a vision. It was to sacrifice themselves for something that they knew they would never see finished. It was to create the story that I lived in a few nights ago. And in an instant, it hit me like a ton of bricks… I have never felt so much pride and appreciation for being part of this program then I did at that moment.

This season has suddenly provided us with an opportunity to be special—who knows what this last stretch could hold for us. But, I have no doubt in my mind that the best years of this program are yet to come. There will be winning seasons. There will be upsets of ranked opponents. There will be championships. It would be incredible to actually experience those things. But, it may not be in the cards for me…and that’s okay. Because I have already won—a long, long time ago...


Hayley Leake
Class of 2008
Diary Entry #5
 
 

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