News Articles – February 7, 2001

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -Wanted: Women’s basketball size 9 left shoes in 1997 Cynthia Cooper Nike model. Willing to purchase complete pairs, but left shoes are a must. Contact Southwest Missouri State women’s basketball office. Jackie Stiles is down to her last pair. The Southwest Missouri State senior guard has tried other shoes, even newer model Cooper Nikes, but to (no) avail. They hurt her feet. But with only one working pair of the ’97 Coopers still in playing condition, someone has to have a pair to spare. She hopes. “I love these shoes,” said Stiles, whose coaches have combed the country looking for more of the same. “They’re just my lucky shoes. I’m trying to have these hold out until the season’s over.” The chances of Stiles breaking the NCAA Division I career scoring record wearing her black and white treasures are pretty good. The chances of those shoes – the left shoe, anyway – surviving much beyond that are questionable. Which, if she were style-conscious, might be a good thing. “They’re the ugliest tennis shoes I’ve ever seen,” says SMSU men’s coach Barry Hinson, who enjoys giving Stiles grief. “They’d bring a quarter at most garage sales.” Stiles believes she is left-foot dominant, thus her need for left shoes. The air pockets in all but one of her left-foot Coopers have broken, while the right shoes have fared just fine. There is more to Stiles’ affinity for Coopers than the simple fact they feel good, though. While Stiles is able to laugh at herself, she is extremely superstitious. Her shoes are a part of that. “They feel good – and there’s superstition,” she acknowledged. “I want to play in these shoes and only these shoes.” Her other game-related superstitions, which prompt considerable teasing from her teammates, are too numerous to count. But here are some highlights: On game days, Stiles has to have oatmeal, Diet Coke and two pieces of toast with cinnamon on top for breakfast. At shooting practice, she has to wear her lucky T-shirt, which she acquired in an early-season tournament in the Virgin Islands, and shoot with a certain ball. After a pregame meal, Stiles takes a 45-minute nap. When she wakes up, she applies specific kinds and colors of makeup – no changes. Each game day, she chews Big Red gum, watches a videotape of Larry Bird highlights and watches part of a film on Pistol Pete Maravich or reads a sampling of one of his books. On the road or at home, Stiles’ fiance, Matt Barrett, phones her 2 1/2 hours before game time to wish her good luck. As tipoff approaches, she and her roommate and teammate, Carly Deer, have to be the first ones on the court for warmups. “And each time we go into the locker room, I have to be the last one to shoot a three,” she said. Asked what the consequences might be if her VCR ate a tape or her T-shirt got lost in the laundry, Stiles said she would probably be just fine. “I had this No. 10 hat that I would take to every game, and I would wear it every time we won, and I just lost it,” she said. “I pretty much had to say, ‘Forget about it, just play, it will not mean anything,’ and it seemed to work out. … I just feel better when I do all these things.” Especially when it means wearing her Coopers. “This is my last pair,” she said, “so hopefully they’ll hold out.”