On and off the court, Katie Douglas has been a soldier with the Purdue women’s basketball team. The All-American’s game attire has included oversized ankle braces, knee guards and elbow pads—enough armor to make her look ready for combat. “I went through wars in games and came out standing,” she says. The senior has been through concussions, tendinitis and reconstructive ankle surgery, plus three coaches. The injuries and coaching changes were the easy part. The tough part is the emotional pain. In the last three plus years, Douglas has lost her father to pancreatic cancer, a teammate to a drunken driver and her mother to breast cancer. "I’ve lost three people really close to me", she says. "A lot of people would have folded, given up. I’ve tried to soldier on.,I’m surrounded by great people. No matter what life throws at you, you have to get up. No matter what life throws at you, there’s somebody who’s got it worse". The 6-1 senior and two-time Big Ten player of the year, averaging 14.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.7 steals, might be the most versatile player in the country. Equally comfortable at point guard, on the wing or on the low block, she often plays every position but center for the well respected Boilermakers. It’s hard to imagine anyone experiencing a greater range of emotions than Douglas. As a sophomore, she had the ball in the final seconds of Purdue’s win in the 1999 national title game before flinging it to the rafters in a moment of exquisite exhilaration. "It was an awesome feeling", she says. "All the hard work, sacrifice, everything we’d been through was all worth it". After Purdue’s opening win in the big ten tournament last year, Douglas sat on the floor, head in hands, sobbing because her mother was too ill to attend the game in the family’s hometown of Indianapolis. A few weeks later, her mother died. "Katie fell apart, just like the rest of us", says Kim Rastrelli, Katie’s sister and the oldest of four children.
The recovery is ongoing for Katie and her three older siblings. They are applying lessons learned from Ken and Karen Douglas. "They were firm believers that life doesn’tcome to a grinding halt", Rastrelli says. "If you have something to do, you need to do it". When Katie’s father died on a Friday in June 1997, she was playing with the Indiana All-Stars in a two-game series against Kentucky. Katie wasn’t told about his death until Saturday after the first game. Following the funeral, she rejoined the team. In the same spirit, Rastrelli and brother Scott Douglas continue the family-owned business, Airline Fasteners, which distributes nailing and stapling equipment. Kim lives with her husband and child in the house where the Douglas children grew up. "We draw strength from our parents", Rastrelli says. "We realize you still have your life to lead, and you can’t be unhappy. My parents wouldn’t want that for us". Katie’s games are family events. But she wasn’t sure she wanted to return to school or play again after last spring. The difficult stretch began in March with Karen Douglas missing the early rounds of the BigTen tournament but summoning the strength to attend the final, which Purdue won. For the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, Karen stayed at Katie’s apartment in West Lafayette. "I wouldn’t trade that time together for anything", Katie says. "It was mother-daughter bonding time. She helped me get my new apartment organized, and decorated". Katie went 3-for-22 as Purdue got by Dartmouth 70-66 and then lost 76-74 to Oklahoma. Douglas received media and fan criticism for her uncharacteristic performance, though her trying circumstances weren’t known. "After we lost to Oklahoma, I wasn’t a pleasant person to be around", Douglas says. "I felt I let a lot of people down. I had a lot on my mind. That wasn’t me out there. I didn’t want to go back to school to face people. I was embarrassed. My mom told me to use it as a learning experience, to use it as motivation”. Karen Douglas also insisted Katie attend the Final Four, where she received Kodak All-America honors. It was the start of anemotional roller coaster for the Douglases in 2000.
On April 15, Katie had reconstructive surgery on her right ankle. On the 18th, Kim gave birth to a son, Drew, who, 15 hours later, was in his grandmother’s arms in a different hospital. On the 28th, Karen Douglas died. Katie didn’t feel like resuming school. She took incompletes. She thought she should help care for her new nephew so Kim could return to the family business. But her mother, on her deathbed, had extracted a promise that Katie would return to school. "I was probably a bum for a while", says Katie, a communications major with a 3.6 grade-point average. “I know I was a bum for a while". But she got her class situation straightened out, baby-sat Drew, talked to teammates and friends, including ex-teammates and WNBA players Stephanie White-McCarty and Ukari Figgs. "I can’t even imagine what Katie’s gone through", says White- McCarty, now with the Indiana Fever and a frequent quest at the Douglas home. "Katie’s someone who’s internal. You’re not going to see a lot of emotion. You know she’s hurting. She’s got tremendous strength and courage". Since her mom’s death, Douglas has been inundated with mail, offering condolences as well as grieving suggestions: "It’s hard to read, but it’s been helpful". The basketball court has been a refuge. “That’s where I go to get away”, she says. "I’m not going to lie. There has been some hard days. But I love college basketball, love college and am trying to get the mostout of senior year". For games she wears a self-designed sweatband on her right elbow that contains her parents’ initials and the number 23, worn by ex-teammate Tiffany Young, who died in a 1999 car accident. "I tough it a lot", she says. "It makes me feel better". Her sense of humor, evident in her diaries for espn.com, remains intact. About her family nickname of Money Pit, she says: "I have a problem. I like to spend money, and I don’t have any". She might be drawing a WNBA salary soon. "In the right situation, she could have a long career in our league as a utility player", says Melissa McFerrin, general manager of the Washington Mystics.
Douglas can post big numbers; she led the Big Ten in scoring last season at 21.1 points a game. She’s averaging seven less points this year, about what she scored as a sophomore on Purdue’s NCAA title team. "I’m not looking to score as much (this season)", she says. "I’m just trying to do the little things to make us successful. When the team needs a big basket, I still want to be the one to hit it". The lefty can take over games with a style based more on guile than speed, quickness or jumping ability. "She goes left; she doesn’t go right", says Penn State coach Rene Portland, who coached Douglas on the ‘99 World University Games team. But she goes left better than anyone in the country in that long, slow, lanky way. It’s been four years of saying, ‘"f you stop her, you stop them". “She was great to coach. She motivates people. Katie grabs you and says, ‘Cut the crap. We’ve got to win this game.’ The very next play, she leads the charge. That’s why she’s so easy to follow" She soldiers on. Says current coach Curry, who gave birth to a daughter recently: “We’re blessed to have Katie. If my little girl can grow up to be like Katie and I can be the mother Katie’s mom was, we’ll all be all right".
SPORT QUESTIONS
Write answers to each of the questions and make certain your answers are in complete sentences:
1. What has Katie Douglas’ game attire consisted of as a basketball player?
2. What types of injuries has Katie Douglas had during her career?
3. List the playing statistics for Katie Douglas during college.
4. What family disasters has Katie had during college?
5. What was the promise that Katie’s mother got from Katie on her death bed?
6. What does Katie wear when she plays that makes her feel better?
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