As an elite basketball star coming out of high school, Lindsay Shotbolt drew interest from several recruiters about where she should continue playing basketball, but she said she chose Carleton because it was a perfect fit.
“I’m really comfortable with the school and the girls already,” Shotbolt said. “I love the basketball team, absolutely love the coach, and I just think that the next five years here is going to be really good for me individually to grow as a player, but also for the team to see how far we can go.”
Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said Shotbolt’s competitiveness and ability to win games was great for the program.
“First of all, I think she was the best high school player in Ontario,” Charles said. “She was the best player on the best team in the province, so the bottom line is she knows all the little things to do and she’s a winning basketball player.”
Shotbolt, who is a native of Unionville, Ont., said working at the summer basketball camp hosted by the Ravens was a great experience.
“I love working with kids and, to be honest, it was actually my first real job because I’ve always been so busy with basketball,” she said. “Being able to train with the varsity team and work during the day at camp was really rewarding for me.”
Charles said he believes working at the summer camp through July and August “helped her transition” in knowing her teammates and university set-up instead of jumping into the student-athlete lifestyle unprepared.
While there were many options for Shotbolt about where to continue playing basketball at the university level, she said the decision to come to Carleton was about more than just basketball.
“First of all, academically, I chose to come to Carleton for the journalism program,” she said. “I’ve always had an aspiration to be in broadcast journalism, so after doing a lot of research on the journalism program, I wanted to be in it.”
“And when I was approached by Taffe [Charles], I did my research on the team, spent some time with the girls, and it felt like the perfect fit for me, even though it will be a lot of work balancing both.”
As for Shotbolt’s work on the court, Charles said she will likely play small forward for this season and she can help the team right away.
“There’s some technical stuff she needs to work on, but she just does so many things well that help the team win, like rebounding the basketball and not being intimidated or backing down from anyone,” he said.
“Her competitive level and tenacity at a young age definitely will help her contribute right away.”
Shotbolt will get her first taste of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) basketball when the Ravens host McGill University on Oct. 4 in their first exhibition clash against Canadian competition.
Carleton opens their 2012-13 regular season with a tough task on the road against the two-time defending CIS champions from the University of Windsor on Nov. 9.
With the Ravens just missing out on a trip to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Final 8 last season, Shotbolt said even as a freshman, she feels motivated to help her team redeem themselves by achieving their goal of making nationals this year.
“Even though I wasn’t on the team, every time we go into the workout room or go to practice I can see that motivation because I know what they experienced last year, and it provides me with a lot of motivation to work hard in every practice and game.”
