Catching Up With Former Upstate Women's Basketball Player Heather Abrams
11/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2008
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Heather Abrams was a legendary dual sport athlete at USC Spartanburg from 1993-97. She played women's basketball for four years and was a member of the volleyball squad in 1995 and 1997. Her talent and athleticism were evident as she was a pre-season All-American in basketball and earned Peach Belt Player of the Week honors several times in both sports. Most notably, she was inducted into the USC Upstate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.
Abrams secured First-Team All-Conference honors from the Peach Belt Conference in 1994-95 and Second-Team honors in 1995-96. After an impressive career, she still remains a highly accomplished player in the Upstate women's basketball program, ranking among the all-time school leaders in 13 different career and single-season statistical categories. She owns the school record for the most games played with 115. She also ranks fourth on the all-time scoring list with 1,454 points and is third with 597 field goals. She recorded 633 rebounds, good for sixth on the all-time list, while she ranks seventh with 161 steals.
During her junior season, Abrams led the team in free throw percentage (.798), a school record, and was first in scoring (14.6 points per game). The 5-11 forward also ranked second on the team in rebounding with 6.7 rebounds per game.
Abrams was also an outstanding student, earning Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll honors during her four years, while also qualifying for the Dean's List at USCS throughout her academic career. She graduated from USC Spartanburg in 1998 with a B.A. in Elementary Education.
Upon graduation, she spent nearly six years with the Campus Crusade for Christ.
She is currently in her first year of work at the admissions office at USC Upstate, while simultaneously earning her Master's degree in Counseling.
You were an escort in the Olympic Torch Relay in 1996. What was that like?
It was amazing! I was selected by Coca-Cola of Spartanburg to represent them during the relay. It was an honor to have such a unique and awesome opportunity. It was fun to see the excitement and community support as the relay went through Spartanburg. I will never forget the experience.
What did you do after your graduation from Upstate?
After graduating, I joined staff with the Campus Crusade for Christ. I worked at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, in the campus ministry with Crusade for 5 years. I also worked in Saratov, Russia for 14 months with Crusade. I relocated to SC in 2005. I worked in retail before coming to Upstate in April 2008. I am also currently working on my Master's degree in Counseling.
Is it any different being back in the Upstate community now than when you were a student-athlete here? What's it like being on the administrative side compared to the athletics side?
Working in the admissions office, I am required to know information about a lot of departments on campus, athletics included. It is also exciting to be back at Upstate and see the growth and changes that have taken place over the past ten years. As a student, I remember plans and visions that Dr. Stockwell and others had for Upstate. It is great to see that some of those plans and visions are realities today.
You are ranked in many of the statistical categories in the university's record books and you were inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. How do these accomplishments sum up your experiences at former USC Spartanburg and what do they mean to you?
I am proud of my accomplishments while a student-athlete at USCS. I played under talented coaches that taught me a lot about their sport and brought the best out of me as an athlete. I also had some great teammates that challenged me and pushed me to be my best. Basketball and volleyball aren't sports you can succeed at on your own. Any accomplishment I achieved was a result of others around me that worked to push me to succeed.
How did you balance two sports, academics and extracurricular activities while at Upstate?
Discipline. Athletics definitely taught me to manage my time more efficiently.
Why did you only play volleyball for two seasons?
My basketball coach during my freshman and sophomore years wouldn't let me play volleyball.
Have you ever thought about coaching? Was there a coach you had over your career that really changed the way you looked at the sport or the way you played?
Growing up, I always wanted to be a coach. After college, other opportunities became available that I wanted to pursue rather than coaching. My dad was the most influential coach I learned from. Though he was never officially a coach of my teams, he had so much to offer about the game of basketball. I played under many different coaches during my athletic career, but he was a constant throughout my career.
He played basketball in high school and later went on to coach basketball. He taught me the mental aspect of the game as well as the physical. He also challenged me to develop diversity as a player. He supported me and was at every game he could attend. During the games, he would give me signals as to how I needed to adjust the way I was playing (i.e., play smarter, use my legs more in my shooting, put more arch in my shot, etc.) After the game, he and I would analyze how I need to improve for the next game, and his mentality really helped me as a player.
How did you first get into basketball and volleyball?
My older brother played basketball so I grew up around the sport. We spent countless hours shooting around in the backyard. My brother and I would play a lot of one-on-one. Our game would usually end with me being so frustrated because I could never beat him. When my brother and his friends were playing basketball, I was always called on to play if they needed one more. I didn't begin playing on an organized team until I was in the seventh grade, but I really enjoyed the sport.
As far as volleyball, when I was in the seventh grade, the volleyball coach challenged me to try out for the team. I made the team and soon fell in love with the sport.
Do you still follow the Upstate athletics?
Not as much as I would have liked too, but now being back at Upstate there is no excuse.
USC Upstate moved into Division I last year when joining the Atlantic Sun Conference. Do you think your playing days would have been different if they had made the shift during your career?
I think our teams would have had opportunity to travel more, and obviously play more challenging teams. It's difficult to say, but I think the entire atmosphere would have been a little different.
If you had to describe yourself in one word, what would you choose and why?
Passionate - when I care about something, I give my all towards it.
