Mondovi, Wis., native Anna Cole is a freshman center on the UK Hoops team. The journalism major will provide a weekly inside look into her daily life as a Kentucky Wildcat. Check out “Cole’s Corner” each week for all of your UK Hoops scoop!

July 13, 2010

Hey Cats Fans!

This has been a busy and productive month for the Cats!  We have been continuing classes and everyone is working really hard. We all want to be one of the most successful academic sports teams on campus and we know the work it will take. We spend a lot of hours in the Center for Academic and Tutorial Services, which we call C.A.T.S. It’s great to walk in and see my fellow teammates there. It fires me up that everyone is working really hard and it pushes me to do that as well. We have all been helping each other out. I am currently in a math class and I am not going to lie, math isn’t my favorite, but thank goodness my roommate Brittany Henderson is so great at it. Our new apartment has turned into a perfect little study area to learn equations and formulas.

This month has also been a great success as far as workouts.  We have been making great strides in the weight room and in our running on the field. My weight partner is Keyla Snowden and she is doing great! Everyone was so proud of her when we were doing back squats. She destroyed her max. It was great! We also have been playing a lot of pick-up games. I just started playing well which means I am near the end of this injury. It is so great to be back out there, especially with this new team. There are so many different personalities and skills that we didn’t have before. It is definitely a different team and not in a bad way. We still focus on the same things. It is so fun and exciting to think about the damage this team could do next year. I can’t wait.

The team on the court is one thing, but off the court is something crazy! These girls are so funny. It’s unbelievable. When we get together it is hilarious and all you can hear is constant laughing.  We have spent a few weekends poolside and some hours at the mall (this team LOVES to shop). This weekend we are especially excited as we are planning a day trip to Louisville to go shopping.  I can’t wait and I know the car ride will be filled with laughter. I can’t think of any better way to spend my Saturday than with the people I love, my second family.  🙂

June 24, 2010

Hey Hoops Fans!

I know it has been a while but it has just been so exciting back here in Kentucky!  I returned on the night of June 7 with Bernisha and it was so exciting to finally get back.  The next few days our teammates started to slowly trickle in and Bernisha helped my friend Brittany and I move into our new apartment. Yes, I said apartment! Brittany and I are so excited to finally be independent.  I may have been excited to move into our new apartment, but not as excited as I was to finally have the UK Hoops 2010-2011 team all together for the very first time.

As soon as we were settled our summer classes began.  I am taking English and Math I am excited to knock out a few generals so that I can finally start to focus on my major which I think will be Elementary Education. I am still thinking about it, but am near making a final decision. We also started our tutoring and study hall so that we can be a successful team off the court as well as on it. 

Not to waste any time, we began our summer workouts.  They have been tough so far as we try to become better than the well-conditioned team we were last year.  Every morning at 6:45 a.m. we have weights and conditioning.  It’s tough but all worth it.

I must say that a super-exciting part of summer so far has been our pick-up games.   Even though I have not participated yet, because of my foot, I am excited by what I see and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish next year if we keep working as hard as we are right now!

I know everyone is eager to know all about the new freshmen!  There are five rookies here and they are all doing great!  We have tried to show them what Lexington has to offer.  We have also learned new things from each other from how they dance in Texas to what’s cool to wear in Connecticut!  I know that we are all going to get along so well and became the perfect basketball family!

Go Cats!

May 26, 2010

Hello to my favorite state!

I know it has been a while but so much has been happening. Two days after my last post I celebrated my golden birthday! Now, my teammates did inform me that the term “golden birthday” is a northern thing so I will clarify.  It means that I turned 19 on the 19th.  It was a great day.  I started the celebration the night before my actual birthday by meeting up with a bunch of friends.  It was great to catch up and tell our stories.  Then the next day I had some chores to do (it may sound strange but I love to mow the lawn so it was no problem).  That night, I went to a dinner with my family and then to a movie with some friends.  It was a great birthday all around!

To add to the excitement, this past Friday my younger sister Jane graduated from high school. It was so exciting and I couldn’t be more proud of her.  But, that wasn’t the end of my excitement. Saturday, my cousin was married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony.  We did get sprinkled on, but not even rain could stop the fun!  The next morning, my aunt and uncle celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary with a nice brunch for the family.  This eventful weekend was a great opportunity for me to see my entire family and catch up.

Now I am finally back to the regular schedule of working out and enjoying my time with family and friends.  I am having fun at home, but I must admit I really miss my teammates.  I feel like every story I tell goes back to a great memory with them! I am just too excited to return to Lexington and reconnect with my teammates and really get to know the new freshmen!

Go Cats!

May 17, 2010

Ooooo C-A-T-S! Cats! Cats! Cats!

I know it has been two weeks since my last update, but a busy two weeks it has been.  Last week was finals week.  I had two big finals that I had to study hard for and I am happy with the outcome!  Everyone else on the team had to study just as hard and we were able to sneak our team “going away” dinner into that busy schedule.  We had initially planned on going out for some delicious steak, but with last minute tutoring and cramming sessions, we just enjoyed some pizza as a team.  Even though it was nothing fancy, it was so much fun and, just as predicted, we shared a ton of laughs.

Now I am back in Wisconsin! Last Wednesday morning I took my last final and headed to the airport with Bernisha (Pinkett).  I was so excited to see my family, especially my 4-year-old brother Connor.  He has gotten so big! I think he is going to be just as tall as me! 🙂 And Bernisha was excited to see her family as well, but she couldn’t wait to see her dog! I am happy to report that despite her fears, he did remember her when she returned. 

Since I have been back it has been very exciting.  Because my friends are still in school for a week or two I have made some runs to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay for some surprise visits between my workouts.  It has been a blast sharing our stories of college life in cities far bigger than little Mondovi, Wisconsin. 

There is plenty more of this month left and it is going to get very busy for me.  I have a birthday coming up, my sister’s graduation and my cousin’s wedding.  I am really enjoying my time at home but of course I am so excited to return to Big Blue Country.

April 28, 2010

Hello Kentucky!

This last week has sure been an exciting one! Monday, UK Athletics hosted the Catspy Awards. It was held in Memorial Coliseum and it was an amazing set up! Every sport had athletes attend and everyone got dolled up from head to toe. All the athletes wore suits or dresses and looked totally different than on the field. The UK Hoops team walked away very successful, receiving many awards. A’dia Mathies, Victoria Dunlap, Lydia Watkins and Coach Mitchell received individual awards. The team also received the award for Female Team of the Year. Winning these awards was an excellent bonus added onto a great season.

Now that the Catspy’s are over, it is all about next year. As I said in my last blog, we have been doing weight training and individual workouts for a few weeks now. But, it is also the week before finals week. This is a big time of year for us as students. We are all very determined to do great on these finals. We want to achieve our team GPA goal and we know what it will take. I personally am in study mode! I am trying to ace my French 101 final. It will definitely be a big one but I am willing to work for it. 🙂

Once finals are done we get a little time at home. I am excited but will definitely miss my team. I know we will all miss each other, so we have planned a great team dinner the weekend before we leave. We are going to get a final chance to hang out as team and have one more laugh. Then, when we get back for the summer sessions and we will be able to get to know our new freshmen that are coming in!

Go Cats

April 21, 2010

Hey Big BlueCountry!

Anna Cole here! I will be keeping all of you Cat fans updated as the summer progresses! I am so excited to be returning as a sophomore this year for the UK Hoops team. I sat out most of this year due to two stress fractures inmy right foot, but it is healing up very nicely. I have upgraded from riding the bike every day to using the eliptical. I cannot wait to get back out on the court!

So this season was INCREDIBLE! Our team surpassed everyone’s expectations. We made it all the way to the Elite Eight. We were, of course, sad with how it ended, but next year we want to go all the way. To accomplish that we have a ton of hard work to put in and we know that. After our final game we had about two weeks of rest and now we are back at it. We are hitting the weight room harder than ever to gear up for the summer. We have 7 a.m. lifting every Tuesday and Friday. We also have started individual workouts. We have three each week. We are doing what we do best and working on those fundamentals! We know that our hard work will pay off next year.

The whole team is very excited to wrap-up this semester as well.This year went by so unbelievably fast. I know I’m excited for a little time at home in America’s Dairyland (Wisconsin), but I will miss my team for sure! We ar ethe best of friends and always have a great laugh when we get together. This summe will be great for us to spend time together working hard and having fun!

Go Cats!