Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Priceless Jewell Team-oriented, versatile freshman Jewell Loyd is a gem By Lou Somogyi A few years ago, Notre Dame freshman guard Jewell Loyd was presented a chance to pursue a potential professional tennis career. Blessed with innate athletic gifts that were complemented by intense, fierce energy, the nationally ranked Loyd chose a different path. ���The day I could have been on the pro circuit, I quit to play basketball,��� recalled Loyd, whose interest in basketball began to develop in junior high. ���I had a great opportunity to move down to Florida and get really serious about [tennis], but I didn���t have the passion for it like I did basketball.��� The Lincolnwood, Ill., native said team camaraderie played a huge role. ���It was way too much individual,��� Loyd said of her interrupted tennis career. ���If you���re just worried about only yourself, you���re not really a team player. I play basketball because I like having everyone involved and I like helping out people. That���s how basketball should be played. ���You take five good friends and play, and together you���re a team. I didn���t like the whole pressure of ���I.��� I like the ���we��� as in, ���We can do this.������ Dealing with just the ���I��� seems to be about the only pressure Loyd can���t handle. In her first month of playing for Hall of Fame basketball coach Muffet McGraw, the 5-10 guard and nation���s No.��1 recruit at shooting guard has already demonstrated sev- eral times that the bigger the stage, the more she literally and figuratively sparkles like a Jewell. ��� In the Nov.��9 opener against No.��19 Ohio State ��� nationally televised on the USS Yorktown in South Carolina ��� Loyd���s initial mandate at guard was to use her excellent leaping ability to help fill the rebounding void left by the graduated Devereaux Peters. Loyd grabbed a game-high 12 boards to help the Irish to a 57-51 victory. ���She���s so incredibly gifted athletically,��� McGraw said. ���She���s somebody that���s probably not going to be great at blocking out as much as just going and getting the ball.��� Loyd said her rebounding skills ��� she averaged 13.3 per game at Niles West High her last three