Cut From the Same Mold

See the story in the Herald Star:

http://hsconnect.com/page/content.detail/id/544797/Cut-from-the-same-mold.html?nav=5012

STEUBENVILLE – Reggie and Cheryl Miller towered over their opponents in the collegiate and professional basketball arena. Over the years we have watched the Williams sisters dominate the tennis courts time and time again. And the Manning brothers have won back to back super bowls for their respective teams. These sibling athletes are continuously focused, determined and ready to compete. 

This succession of athletic siblings lives on in the new Franciscan University Lady Baron basketball coaches.

Luke Heusel and Suzy (Heusel) Delaney have basketball and Franciscan University coursing through their veins.  As alumni of the FUS, Heusel graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology and Delaney graduated in 1999 with a double degree in biology and theology.  Heusel played and coached basketball on the inaugural FUS club team from 1995-96, and for three seasons Delaney assisted former Lady Baron basketball coach and current head volleyball coach Kelly Herrmann.  Heusel and Delaney were also twice named Male and Female Athletes of the Year while at FUS, and each met their spouses while students at the University.  In order to be closer to their family and FUS, both Heusel and Delaney are back in Steubenville and ready to lead Lady Baron basketball this fall as head coach and assistant coach, respectively.

“Play with intensity, play with heart, play without fear” is the philosophy Heusel wants to instill in his players.  “So much about competition is heart and courage,” Heusel says.  “If we can put these out in front, we’ll be just fine.  We aren’t going to worry about the other team being bigger or faster.  We will bring it with intensity, heart and without fear.”

Heusel and Delaney both competed in basketball at Union Local High School in Belmont, Ohio.  Heusel was starting point guard his junior and senior years, earning a spot on the 1992 East Ohio Regional and District 9 All Star teams.  Delaney played on two OVAC Championship basketball teams under Tiltonsville native Steve Laposki, and during her senior year earned special mention status All Ohio and first team accolades on the All OVAC and Eastern District teams.  From there she played two seasons at Wheeling Jesuit University, was voted her team’s best defensive player both seasons, and was elected as co-captain for her junior season before she chose to transfer to Franciscan.

“The assistant coach usually gets to know the girls a little bit better than the head coach, so I’m definitely looking forward to that,” Delaney notes.  “I just want to instill an attitude of being grateful for the opportunities we are given in this life.  If we see ourselves as grateful to the Lord for the gifts he has given us, then why would we not want to give back to him our best effort?”

Luke Heusel recounts a time when the whole family learned what it meant to be grateful.  While in high school, Delaney and her father were in a head-on collision that left her in critical condition.  Doctors warned the Heusel family that due to the traumatic brain injury, she might not walk again and may experience a personality change.  Through a nearly miraculous recovery, Delaney suffered no major problems and was back on the cross country team in a few months, running to keep herself in shape for the coming basketball season.

During Suzy’s first post-recovery race, Luke Heusel remembers watching the tree line with their father, the team’s coach, waiting for the leaders to emerge from the woods.  They were surprised when instead of seeing a local veteran runner leading the pack, they saw Suzy keeping pace beside her.  She won the race easily and went on to win many other races that year, rounding out her season at the Ohio High School State Cross Country meet.

“Suzy epitomizes heart, she epitomizes courage, and her defense has always epitomized intensity,” says Heusel.  “You can’t beat that!  And her story is a great example of what I want Lady Baron Basketball to look like.”

Heusel is looking forward to the opportunity to work at the University and be a part of the mission that he experienced as a college freshman back in 1992: “I’m looking forward to leading this group of women, encouraging them, making them better athletes, and setting the bar high for them in regards to discipline and professionalism.”

The brother-sister duo will be bringing more than their coaching philosophies and respective strengths to the court this fall.  “We’ve both seen Hoosiers about 700 times and enjoy talking in Hoosier-isms regularly,” chuckles Heusel.  “Watching Hoosiers will be some sort of requirement for the team.”