Eastern Michigan has a superstar walking around campus that not many people know about, but should.
Senior Tavelyn James will make EMU history this month when she travels to Guadalajara, Mexico as the only basketball player, male or female, from Eastern to participate in the 2011 Pan American
Games as apart of the USA team.
Not only will she be the first EMU player to compete in the event, but she will also be the first student-athlete from the Mid-American Conference to represent a USA Team.
“I’m ecstatic,” James said. “I almost feel like a superstar. I know I’ve accomplished something no one in the conference has, it’s an amazing feeling.”
James will be joining the USA team this weekend as she travels to Houston, Texas to participate in training camp and practices before departing to Guadalajara the evening of Oct. 18.
“My initial reaction to finding out I was going to be on the USA team for the Pan American games
was a shock,” James said.
“Not saying I’m not good enough, but I felt that things like this are given to athletes at higher level schools. I was also excited because I know it’s my time, and I deserve it. I’ve worked hard enough for this.”
Coach AnnMarie Gilbert said she wasn’t shocked upon hearing the good news but was pleasantly surprised.
“I was really excited,” Gilbert said. “I had been pushing her name out there.
“I told her about it when I first recruited her that I thought she could make the team. She said
she had never heard about the USA team. So, I mentioned to her coming out of Eastern, she had the opportunity to make the team. She is the real deal. She is deserving of this honor.”
James said she doesn’t really know the process of how to make the team but credits Gilbert putting her name out there and appreciates her for it.
She found out about the news at 11:30 p.m.
“I called home and woke everyone up to tell them the news,” James said. “They were more excited than I was; I guess they are just happy to see big things happening for me and that they can also be a part of it.”
James is from Detroit where she played high school basketball at Mumford.
Senior Paige Redditt, James’ teammate, said she was with her when she found out she was a finalist for the USA team.
“I was very excited for her,” Redditt said. “I think it’s a good opportunity for her, as well as, our team, and the MAC conference.”
James and Redditt are the only seniors on Gilbert’s team that have been here since their freshman year. Both know each others game and have seen each other progress as students of the game.
“Tavelyn’s absence will be felt especially for me,” Redditt said. “We have been playing together for so long now, but I do think that it could also give other people on the team the opportunity to step up and fill her void for the time she is gone.”
James will be playing in the Pan Am games from Oct. 21-25, while the Eagles have their first closed scrimmage Oct. 23.
Gilbert said: “It puts us in a better position. Tavelyn has a key position on this team. While she’ll be gone, I’ll be trying to gather and get other players to step up. The timing couldn’t be better for us to play without her. It definitely plays to our team’s advantage.”
James will be experiencing basketball on a whole different level than what she is accustomed to while the Eagles strive to improve for the upcoming season.
“She will be exposed to talent outside the U.S.,” Gilbert said. “She is going to play with some McDonald’s All-Americans. It is going to give her a greater knowledge of competition outside her comfort level. She will come back with a better appreciation for her teammates and hopefully with some experiences that she can share with them.”
Gilbert added that James is going to come back with a better understanding of where she is at talent-wise on her quest to become a professional basketball player.
Gilbert said, “These coaches are going to let her know what she needs to work on, and how good she really is.”
Tavelyn said, “I think this will help my basketball game tremendously. This experience will just allow me to grow as an individual and as a player. I’m ready, but I’m not ready for the trip all at the same time. Of course, I’m ready to play. I’ve done this my whole life, but being away from my family and my EMU family will be different for me.”
James also credits her team for being a great inspiration and very supportive through her time here at Eastern.
“We are a family, and those are my sisters,” James said. “I really appreciate them having my back.
The coaches have also been very supportive, including our strength and conditioning coach Blair Wagner; he is like our older brother.”
Gilbert said James is a catalyst for the team and has been a big part of the team’s success while she has been here at EMU. Tavelyn is a two-time All-Mid-American Conference first-team selection who led the Eagles in points per game (17.4), field goals made (227), three-pointers made (74) and free-throw percentage (77.6) last season.
Redditt said: “From our freshman year to now, Tavelyn has matured as a player and person. We have grown close, and I have enjoyed seeing how far she has come since our first year. She is making history, and I am grateful to have shared this time with her.”
Gilbert said James is an exceptional three-point shooter for her size and can create her own shot.
“She is our scoring leader and our defensive leader,” Gilbert said. “She gets a lot of steals per game, but she definitely jump starts our offense.”
She added that James role on this team this season is to be a captain, a first for her, but is excited for her to take on this responsibility.
Redditt agrees that this season James needs to be a leader for their team.
“Tav also needs to help the younger girls learn the ropes and how we play,” Redditt said. “Then of course, she has to score. Oh, and pass the ball to me.”
