News Articles – March 2, 2001

By MIKE MARZOLF
Great Bend Tribune
3/2/01

Then there are Jackie Stiles’ work habits and rituals It started when she was just a couple of years old and continues through today. Back then it was just a couple of laps (maybe even one) around the track. Now is it nearly non-stop. But Jackie Stiles has always been active. “Work ethic” coaches like to call it. She’s got it. From the time Stiles was barely old enough to run, there she was jogging around the track. “She was always really active,” her dad Pat Stiles said. “I can remember when she was 2 or 3 years old, following me jogging around the track.” It didn’t stop there — no way. “When she got to be 5she would follow me to the gym,” Pat said. “When we got there, she’d pick up a ball and take off with it.” Instant babysitter. The work continued to increase and by the time she hit junior high, Stiles had designed herself a workout. Stiles had seen a Steve Alford workout video and took her idea from that. “She wasn’t just shooting around randomly,” Pat said. “She had certain drills she would do for about one hour every day. Some days it was 45 minutes or 30 minutes if there was not enough time.” During high school those workouts began to intensify. Her sophomore year, Stiles broke her wrist and in the rehabilitation from that, she started to make 1,000 shots every day to help strengthen the wrist. The off-seasons always included long workouts. During the season she would go in at night and do some extra shooting. It became a ritual to make 150 shots before pregame on game days. During her high school days in the fall, Stiles would be a very busy student. Before school would start, she would lift weights. Following school, it was time for tennis practice. After that, it was off to do her cross country workouts. Finally, after getting some supper, it would be down to the gym where she would do her basketball workouts. Then came the next day and the same thing over again. By the time Stiles reached college, the coaches began to pull her back. “They tried to back her off,” Pat said. “They told her it was a long season and she didn’t need to be putting in so many hours.” So they settled on taking one day a week when she would not touch a basketball. As intense as her workouts have been, so have her superstitions been, well, strange. But aren’t all superstitions a bit strange? They, too, started a long time ago. “I remember during her junior year in high school the team got in the habit of eating Subway before every game,” Pat said. “So some parent always had to run to Great Bend that morning and get lunch.” And then there was the time that Jackie forgot her tights for a ball game. She borrowed a pair from Lindsay Hickel and guess what — Claflin won, Stiles played great, and, well, Hickel was probably out a pair of tights. “I doubt Lindsay ever got those back,” Pat said. It was always a Rex Walters highlight tape or a Michael Jordan tape during games in Claflin. Now it is Larry Bird. It’s also Big Red gum during the game. It’s a 45-minute nap before the shoot-around. It’s the same socks, same undergarments, same hairdo, same lipstick. It’s being the first player on the court 90 minutes before the game. It’s Silk and Van Halen. It’s being the last one to hit a 3-pointer in warm-ups. It’s the Cynthia Cooper 1997 model Nike shoes (of which the left one always wears out quicker). It’s a call from Matt Barrett, her fiance, 2 1/2 hours before each game. Now that’s pressure for Matt. It’s oatmeal, Diet Coke and two pieces of cinnamon toast for game-day breakfast. And so on, and so on. The workouts and superstitions may have changed over the years, but one thing hasn’t — Stiles could score points in bunches from the first time she stepped on the court and she still does.