College athlete of the week

Year: Senior

School: Concordia (Ore.) University

Sport: Basketball

Hometown: Edmonds (King’s High School)

What she did: Made ESPN’s top plays of the week after taking the ball out of bounds with 0.7 seconds left, inbounding it off an opponent’s back, and hitting the game-winning layup in a 63-61 win over College of Idaho. The win clinched a Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) title for Concordia, while Clauson went on to be named the CCC’s player of the year.

What’s next: The Cavaliers (24-9) opened play in the NAIA Division II tournament Thursday against Black Hills State (S.D.).

The two-minute drill

First of all, I’m sure you had a little bit of a different week. What number reporter am I to talk to you in the last week?

You’re probably No. 10.

And before that?

Before I hit the shot? Not nearly that many. It was random. (Laughs) Sporadic.

Before we even get to the shot, what was the coolest thing and the most annoying thing that’s come from it?

The coolest thing, honestly, is it’s neat, as a senior, to have that as your last memory — especially it being the last game on your home court with my friends and family there supporting me. Just having that has been pretty cool. The most annoying thing? It’s probably the one question asked by everyone, and that’s whether it was planned or if I just decided to do it on the spot. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that question, and I feel like I’m repeating myself over and over again. I feel like a broken record.

So how do you answer?

It was spontaneous. I’ve done that move before, but it was an in-the-moment decision, not a team play. We didn’t take a timeout right before it. I wasn’t even going to take the ball out, but my coach yelled at me to inbound it at the last second. So it was just a spontaneous play that happened.

Geez, you sound like a broken record.

Yeah! (Laughs)

What kind of a game was it. I mean, did you have to make a huge comeback, was it back-and-forth, were you trying to hold College of Idaho off?

We were down the entire game. We were trailing by 12 in the second half. It was the third time we’d played them, and we’d already beaten them twice, and it was a pretty big game. And I didn’t have a very good game. The thing is, it was probably my worst game, personally, of the season. Everyone seems to forget that (because of the final shot), so that’s been nice.

As far as the play goes, you inbounded the ball off the back of an opponent, then grabbed the ball and hit the game-winning shot. So was it one of those things where, when she turned her back, you immediately knew what you were going to do?

I had passed the ball inbounds most of the game, so I noticed they didn’t have anybody guarding the ball. Obviously, with only 0.7 seconds left, the only shot is to throw it in and have someone tip it. They were stacked inside the key, and her back was to me the entire time; she was never looking at me. My whole thought process (while waiting to get the ball from the official) was to pass it in if someone was wide open, but if someone wasn’t wide open I was going to go for it. So I waited one second, no one was open because they had the lane all packed in, and I did it.

There are two sides to this story, and you’re not the only one whose image was all over ESPN and Youtube for hours and days afterward. So do you feel at all sorry for the girl you threw it off?

I do. I’ve had people ask me that, too. We had a rivalry with that team, and I’ve played against them all four years, so it’s a little extra sweet that it came against them. But I feel bad for her because she’s a senior, too, and that’s a rough way to end. As great as my ending was, that’s not how you want to go out. In her defense, that’s what the coach told her to do. So it’s not like she did anything wrong. But it’s nice to know that nobody really wrote about her. I haven’t seen anyone use her name or write a story about her after that.

Did someone tip you off that it would be on ESPN, or were you surprised when it came on?

That night, at one o’clock or 1:30, I got my first text message. It said: ‘Oh, my god. I just saw you on ESPN. You were No. 10 on Top Plays.’ I was like, yeah, right, whatever. Then I got another one that said I was No. 9. Then No. 8. Then I started believing them. Then I started looking online, but you have to have a subscription to see that on ESPN.com. And I don’t have cable TV. So the next day, I finally saw the clip. But, yeah, I first found out by a mass amount of text messages.

You don’t have cable TV? That’s somewhat ironic.

I do not have cable TV in my apartment.

Why not?

I’m taking 19 credits, I play basketball, and I’m interning, so I don’t have time to watch TV. And, I’m a college student, so I can’t really afford it. We pretty much just watch movies anyway. And we have an antenna, so we watch the network stations. We watch the news … Ellen … Oprah.

I didn’t think anyone in your generation even knew what an antenna was.

Yeah, we have one. It’s not classic-looking, either. It’s a little white box that’s on our floor.

Maybe now you’re considering it, since you’re a cable-TV star and all?

Probably not anytime soon. I don’t know if I’ll be on ESPN ever again.

I have to admit, before I saw the clip, I’d never even heard of a Concordia University in Oregon. What can you tell us about it? And what does it feel like knowing you’ve brought so much publicity to the school?

Well, it’s one of 11, or 12, other Concordias. The most well-known is Nebraska. So when I tell someone I go to Concordia, I always have to tell them: ‘No, the one in Portland.’ It’s a smaller school, but it’s right in the city, so it has a bigger-school feel. That’s one reason I like it. It’s nice for the school to get all the attention. I just like the school. I went to King’s, in Edmonds, and it’s kind of like that. It’s just been a really good experience.

So are you getting recognized on campus lately?

Not personally, no. But whenever we walk around as a team, people seem to notice. Today, we’re at the gym with five other teams (practicing for the NAIA tournament first round in Sioux City, Iowa) and some of the girls are like: ‘You’re the Concordia on ESPN, right?’ So that’s new.

So if any of those teams faces you in the tournament, and you’re inbounding the ball, do you think they’ll turn their back on you?

No, I don’t. And if they do, they’ll probably be looking over their shoulder.

The secret’s out, huh?

Yeah. One local TV station had me re-enact the play with my teammates out here this week, so I think we’ve been scouted.

On another note, since you’re living in Portland, have you ever heard of the hit TV show ‘Portlandia’?

I have heard of it. I saw a clip before the episodes came out.

So do they do an accurate job of portraying Portland?

They do. It’s pretty funny. The best line is: ‘It’s where you go to retire at 30.’ That’s about it. Get to 30, retire, work a couple days at a coffee shop. That’s Portland.

So you’re eight years from retirement?

I’m getting there. I’m pretty close. I’m probably going to retire before my parents. (Laughs)

Wait a second. How do you know about ‘Portlandia’ if you don’t even have cable?

I’ve seen it online. You can watch a lot of things online these days. You’d be surprised.

Just not ESPN’s ‘Top Plays,’ huh?

That’s true. You can’t watch it until someone puts it on Youtube. (Laughs)