DePaul, Quigley ready to teach Vandy a thing or two in NCAA opener
She's just a student-teacher, and still in college.
Yet, when it's time to learn about hoops, the grade school kids at Oscar Mayer Magnet in Lincoln Park hang on Sam Quigley's every word, as if she were principal.
"They found out that I play," said Quigley, a junior point guard on the DePaul women's basketball team who is training to become a physical education and health teacher. "So they know that I know a little bit about basketball."
Being seen as a "celebrity," also helps Quigley's cred with the kids.
"The way they found out about me playing basketball is that there's a (DePaul) team poster of me hanging in the hallway at school," Quigley said sheepishly. "And they were all like, 'Is that you? Is that you? They were all excited.'"
Just think of how over the moon the kids will be when they see the lady who taught them how to shoot a jump shot shooting her own jump shots on TV.
That will happen on Sunday (11 a.m., ESPN2) when Quigley and No. 11 DePaul take on sixth-seeded Vanderbilt in a first round NCAA tournament game in Cincinnati.
The Blue Demons, who have overcome season-ending injuries to two of their best players - Deirdre Naughton and China Threatt - are 21-11 and are making their eighth straight tournament appearance.
It's a streak we should all be thankful stayed intact. Because sadly, DePaul is the only team from the state of Illinois, men's or women's, to make an NCAA tournament bracket.
"We're not happy about that. We were rooting for those teams that had a chance to get in, like the Illinois men, the Northwestern men and women and the Illinois State women," DePaul women's coach Doug Bruno said. "But if we're the only one, we'll carry the torch for the state of Illinois."
Quigley knows a thing or two about carrying torches.
She's had one passed to her from her sister, who took it from their mom.
Christine Quigley was a big-time basketball star at the University of St. Francis in Joliet back in her day.
Big sister Allie, a sharp-shooting small forward, graduated two years ago from DePaul ranked third on the career scoring list with 2,078 points.
Sam got to play with Allie when she was a freshman and Allie was a junior. But she sat out Allie's senior season because of an injury.
She says she'd love to get that extra year back with her sister, but at the same time, it's nice to be out on her own.
"There can kind of be that feeling (of being in a sibling's shadow) when you're the younger sister," Sam Quigley said. "We really loved playing together but it's also been nice to be that person that the team looks to. We had some tough times this season. When you've got some of your top players going down at the beginning of the season, everybody's kind of unsure of how we're going to go on. Someone needed to step up and say, 'We're going to be OK.' I wanted to be that person."
Quigley answered the call emotionally, but also physically, to the tune of 13.1 points and a team-leading 5.2 assists per game. This has been, by far, her best season at DePaul.
In fact, she's been so impressive in directing the offense and creating for her teammates that she is one of eight finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which is given annually to the best point guard in the nation.
Samantha Prahalis of Ohio State, Andrea Riley of Oklahoma State and Jasmine Thomas of Duke are a few of the frontrunners.
"I'm not even sure my name belongs with some of those names," a very humble Quigley said. "Those girls are really good. And Nancy Lieberman was such a good guard. It's nice to be mentioned, but it's kind of shocking."
Not to Bruno, who heard rumblings years ago that he was simply recruiting Sam as a way to ensure that Allie, who is now playing overseas, would sign.
"I know people were saying that it was some kind of package deal and that's absolutely not true," Bruno said. "We made it clear to Sam that we wanted her whether Allie came to DePaul or not. We recruited her on her own merits. She was a great high school player (at Joliet Catholic). I like Sam for what she does. She's a floor leader who has the ability to score the ball.
"She's meant a lot to our team this season, especially helping us get through the adversity (injuries) we've faced. She's done everything we've asked her to do."
A good teacher, and a good student. Won't the kids at Oscar Mayer Magnet be proud.
pbabcock@dailyherald.com