The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2017 THE WOLVERINE 17 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Katelynn Flaherty, Michigan's stand- out guard from Point Pleasant, N.J., led the team in scoring as a freshman and has been delighting U-M fans with her skills since she stepped on the Crisler Arena court. As a sophomore and ju- nior, Flaherty has earned back-to-back consensus first-team All-Big Ten acco- lades, and she has started every game over the past two years. In her second season, Flaherty set school records for points in a season (774) and points per game (22.1), and this year she has led the squad to a 22-9 record expected to earn a NCAA bid. Here are a few things you didn't know about one of the Big Ten's best players: Nickname: "It would just be Kate." Favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor: "I would have to say Ruth's Chris. It's really good." Best meal she can cook by herself: "I would say shrimp Alfredo pasta. It's probably the only think I can cook, though. I'm working on [learning] fried chicken, you know, basic things." Sports she plays besides tennis: "I actually played softball until I was in eighth grade." Hobbies: "When I'm home for the summer I live right by the beach, so I love to go to the beach, and I love to swim in the pool and in the ocean. I like to go to the movies. I also like to go bowling or mini-golf. If I find a good book, I don't mind reading if I have time." Favorite TV show: "'Shameless' is my favorite one right now." Favorite movie: "Not the favorite, but one of my favorites is 'Step Brothers.'" Dream vacation: "Definitely Hawaii would be a dream vacation. I like how clear the water is. I really love really blue, clear water. That's always been a thing for me when I go on vacation." Favorite professional basketball venue she's been to: "I played at Mad- ison Square Garden before. It was for high school basketball. It was nice." Favorite professional athlete: "I would have to say Steph Curry [of the Golden State Warriors]. Just because coming out of high school he wasn't really highly recruited, and then he kind of proved himself in college and in the NBA has done very well for him- self, and that hard work mentality." Role Model: "I would have to say my father, really. He was a high school coach. He's a phys ed teacher now." Why she chose basketball: "My dad was a basketball coach, so I wanted him to be able to coach me, and I knew that if I was going to play softball I was eventually going to have to find an- other coach because that wasn't his expertise like basketball was." What she hopes to do after basket- ball: "For my career, eventually I would like to work in the health field, just because I want to help people. I'm not sure whether that is being a doctor or going into public health or being some kind of physician's assistant, but definitely just working with medicine and helping people. I would like to pursue basketball [right after school]. Especially just being able to see what my opportunities are. If they are good ones I would definitely pursue them, maybe overseas or even if I got a try- out for the WNBA." Her overall U-M experience: "It's been awesome. I'm definitely very happy that I chose to come here. I love going to school here, all the classes are so interesting. Meeting all the different people in your classes, it's very diverse. Social-wise, it's a big campus, there are so many people, but I've become great friends with my teammates. We spend so much time together, even when we're not around basketball, I'm very thankful for that. Athletically, the games have been so much fun. Coming out as a freshman and being maybe .500 in conference, and now coming out and having the opportu- nity, at one point we were a top-25 team, top-20 team and probably quali- fying for the NCAA Tournament two years later has just really been great." — Leland Mitchinson Getting To Know Basketball Junior Katelynn Flaherty This season, Flaherty became the fastest player to reach 1,500 points in Michigan history and is just the seventh Wolverine to reach that mark. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN