Hannah Long drives to the basket in this file photo from her days with the Marysville High School girls basketball team. Long has two years of NCAA Division I hoops under her belt at Campbell College in North Carolina.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The life of a Division I college athlete can be one of gradual progression.
Marysville High School graduate Hannah Long is living proof of that.
Long, a 2015 MHS grad, saw her playing time dramatically climb between her freshman and sophomore seasons as a member of the Campbell College women’s basketball team.
Long was recently home for a summer break, but had to return to the school earlier this week to begin workouts.
She talked about the difference between her rookie campaign of D-I basketball and her second season.
“It was a huge difference, ” said Long. “For one thing, I struggled with a foot sprain that took eight weeks to completely heal when I was a freshman. I knew I had to become mentally and physically tougher.”
Long battled her injury throughout the 2015-2016 season and as a result, played in only 13 games. She averaged 8.3 minutes per contest and scored 20 total points and grabbed 21 rebounds.
A relatively-healthy sophomore season put Long into the lineup far more often. She played in 28 games, with 26 of them as starting assignments. She averaged 6.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, while shooting more than 63 percent from the field.
Long finished with seven, double-figure scoring efforts last winter and led the team with five double-figure rebound games.
The only health-related issue she suffered last year was a concussion when she was elbowed in the jaw late in the season.
Campbell finished with a 21-10 record and Long attributed the success to a new coaching staff.
Wanda Watkins, who was the coach who recruited Long, retired and was replaced by Rodney Fisher.
“Coach Fisher is such a defensive-oriented coach,” said Long, “and as a result, we finished first among all Division I women’s teams in defense last season.
“We also played a lot of fast-break basketball and it was a wide-open offense, which I also like.”
Long said she began to become comfortable as a Division I hoopster about midway during her sophomore campaign.
“I went from not playing much at all to starting most of the games,” she said. “It took some time to become comfortable.
“I started slowly, but picked it up.”
At 6-1, Long was one of the tallest players on the court when she played high school basketball.
That’s not so much the case on the collegiate level.
“There are a lot of players my size or bigger,” she said. “College basketball is also much more physical than high school.”
During past summers, Long continued to play hoops on the AAU level.
She isn’t, however, doing that this summer.
“I’m taking the summer off from playing on a team,” she said.
That doesn’t mean she’ll be too far away from the sport.
“We have a summer workout schedule that includes lifting (weights) and getting our mile-run time down to seven minutes,” said Long. “My best time so far is 7:09, so I have some more work to do.”
Long said it’s much different running in North Carolina, where Campbell is located, than it is in Ohio.
“The air in North Carolina is much heavier and it’s hotter and more humid,” she said. “Even if you just step outside, you feel like you have to take a shower.
“You’re drenched when you run.”
The team will also continue to shoot and do other training exercises before preseason practice begins in the fall.
Long has changed her major from biology to communications. One day she hopes to become involved in radio or television broadcasting.
As pleased as she is about the progress she has made on the basketball floor, she’s also proud of her academic work, as a member of the South Presidential Honor Roll.