By Duane Cochran
FAIRMONT — When it comes to athletic ability and God-given talent, Lauren Gilbert is arguably the most gifted member of Fairmont State’s women’s basketball team.
However, the former four-time All-Big 10 Conference selection and Player of the Year from Bridgeport High School nearly walked away from the game she loves for good a short time ago.
Fortunately for Fairmont State, Gilbert changed her mind and this afternoon at 4 p.m. she and her Lady Falcon teammates will wrap up the first semester of play when they host Shippensburg (Pa.) University in a big non-conference game at the Joe Retton Arena.
FSU enters the game 4-2 overall, while Shippensburg comes to town with a 5-4 record.
After helping to lead Bridgeport to a pair of state tournament appearances and ending her prep career as the school’s third all-time leading scorer, Gilbert opted to attend junior college at Potomac State. There she garnered first-team Region 20 honors and helped lead the Catamounts to their best record in school history and a sixth-place finish in the Division II National Junior College Tournament.
Prior to her sophomore season Gilbert transferred to perennial NCAA Division II power California (Pa.) University. There she started five games for the Vulcans and averaged 12.6 points per contest, but at the end of her first semester she was not happy. Thus, she withdrew from school, felt like her college basketball career was over and enrolled at West Virginia University to be just a student for the spring semester in 2008.
“I actually considered Fairmont after leaving Cal, but I didn’t think FSU had my major and everything just happened so fast that I just enrolled quickly at WVU,” said Gilbert. “The first day of class there, though, I knew I really didn’t want to be there either. I didn’t want to be in Morgantown.”
At the urging of friend and former Lady Falcon Shannon Onderko, Gilbert transferred to Fairmont State in the fall of 2008, but really didn’t consider returning to the court until around Christmas time.
“(Former FSU men’s basketball player) Cody Loughery, who works for Nate Smith at his basketball school in Morgantown, asked me if I’d be interested in working there and once I got back around basketball and playing with those guys they told me I was crazy to not want to play again,” said Gilbert. “My dad and I started to go to a few games around Christmas time and we talked a little about me playing again, but I had not talked to anyone at Fairmont about the chance of me playing.
“I believe coach Mac (FSU women’s coach Steve McDonald) saw me at some of the games and during the spring semester he called me one day when I was in the library at school and said ‘Unless you can tell me right now you never want to play basketball again come and meet with me tomorrow’ and I did. And now here I am.”
And Gilbert, who is majoring in exercise science at FSU, admittedly couldn’t be happier.
“When I left Cal I honestly thought I’d never, ever play the game again,” she said. “But to be honest right now I’m so happy I’m back and I’m here playing. My friends joke with me all the time about my situation. When I was in high school I never thought I’d be here in Fairmont playing.
“Jarrod West (former WVU player and current Notre Dame High School boys’ head coach) and I used to work out a lot and he used to tell me sometimes you have to go through the back door to get to where you need to be. I think I kind of came through the window. I’m at my fourth school and on my third team, but I couldn’t be happier. I love playing for coach Mac, our team is great, the girls here on the team are great and I love Fairmont State as a school. I feel very fortunate because now, finally, I'm in a good place.”
Six games into her junior season, Gilbert is averaging 8.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for FSU. She’s also tied for the team lead in assists and is tied for second on the squad in steals.
Gilbert’s natural position is point guard, but in FSU’s new system she has been moved to a power forward spot. She says the change wasn’t too hard to adapt to considering the style of basketball the Lady Falcons are playing this season.
“I’m getting more comfortable with where I’m playing with each game, but to be real honest with the offense we’re running it’s not like its much of a position change for me,” said the speedy Gilbert, who is only 5-6. “We’re basically a four-guard offense so it hasn’t been that hard. Plus, Kaitlin (Snyder) is such a talented point guard for us. She does a great job of bringing the ball up and handling the pressure.
“You know, we’ve got four new starters on the floor this year and we’re still getting used to playing with one another, but I really believe in the second semester you’ll see us get more into a rhythm on offense. I really think we’re only going to get better and better as a team and like I said I’m just very, very happy that I’m a part of this program now.”
