Jenni Carlson: You know, every year when the scholar-athletes are honored, I think about all of you past winners and how prepared all of you seem for college. Were you ready to go?

Danielle Zanotti: I don’t think I was unprepared, but everybody has to transition from high school to college in sports and in school. It really is a different game. On the court, it’s a lot faster pace, there’s more pressure, expectations are higher, it’s more physical, so you’re transitioning on the court. Then, you come to school. I’ve always enjoyed classes, I’ve always enjoyed reading, but you can get away with not reading a whole lot in high school. In college, it’s just a lot more intense. So to be transitioning in both huge areas of your life, that can be difficult.

JC: Anything you wish you would’ve known then that you know now?

DZ: On the court in high school, you can get away with just maybe being the tallest or the most athletic. Your weaknesses may not be exposed in high school. In college, everything is exposed. Everybody’s athletic. Everybody’s taller and bigger and faster. I wish that I’d had my weaknesses maybe brought to my attention more. I wish that I’d dedicated more time to working on my outside shot. In high school, I was a post player; in college, I was a guard.

JC: You were recently nominated for the Marshall Scholarship, which is like the Rhodes Scholarship. What’s the timeline for the process?

DZ: You have a personal statement. It’s like an essay about your life and how it ties into your academic goals. Basically, I’ve always wanted to work with children with cancer, but now I’ve kind of broadened it to working with children with any type of trauma, whether it be natural disasters or terrorism or sexual assault or cancer. There’s a couple of doctors working over there looking at the cognitive processes behind kids dealing with trauma. I have a couple of study proposals. You also have to have essays for your proposed study at both schools, another essay about why you need to study there, then there’s a very exhaustive interview process. There’s about 200 applicants per region. Then they narrow it down to about 15 to 20 per region. Then they ask you to come to an interview. There’s eight regions. Three (selections) is the minimum. My application is due in September. Now, I’m basically reading the newspaper like a mad woman because current events is a big part of the interview process. Just reading up a lot and working on revising my essay.

JC: One of the things I was going to ask you is what’s next, but it sounds like it’s a little up in the air.

DZ: It is. It’s kind of difficult because I don’t have anything narrowed down, and I’m kind of a type A personality so it kind of bothers me. But I try to think of it as a good thing because I have a couple different options. I have one more semester left until I graduate in psychology, then I’m committed to being a graduate assistant (on the Kansas State women’s basketball team) at least next year. I’ll start a master’s, probably in sports administration because they don’t have a clinical psych program here at K-State. Then, if this GA thing pans out and I can get an assistant coaching position, I’d love to stay at K-State. But I eventually want to get my PhD in clinical psych.

JC: Tell those Marshall judges if they need help, we’ve got Scholar-Athlete judges who can vouch for you.

DZ: I always need letters of recommendation, so that might not be a bad thing. (Laughs.)

JC: Now that you’re done playing, I have to ask what it was like that last game. Playing sports, after all, have always been such a big part of your life.

DZ: It was heartbreaking. It was terrible, really. I was so happy that we made it back to the NCAA Tournament. When I was a junior and we made it, I threw out my back the day before our game. I wasn’t really able to play. When we lost to Vanderbilt that last game … I could barely drag myself up the tunnel. I was just so distraught. I still get choked up thinking about it. You know that life will never be the same. Luckily, I have an opportunity to still be a part of the team. But you know it’s never going to be the same. I know that’s a part of life and things have to change, but if I could beg the NCAA for more eligibility, I would. College sports is really one of the best opportunities anybody can get. I just loved it.

It was rough, but I guess that’s a good thing. To miss it means that it meant something. If it doesn’t mean something to you and you didn’t enjoy your time, maybe you don’t miss it as much. I look at it as a blessing. But yeah, it was hard. A lot of tears. Me and my roommate stayed up all night, I think, just crying and talking and laughing and more crying.

JC: I know your mom was so supportive of you. Was the end of your career harder on you or harder on her?

DZ: My mom and my sister and my mom’s boyfriend and my grandparents, they all came out to Albuquerque. But my sister had school and couldn’t miss, so my mom’s boyfriend and my sister had to go back. My sister had to watch it on TV, and you know in those NCAA games, they don’t play the whole game sometimes. So, they cut away from my game, and I guess my sister was literally sobbing because she did not get to watch her sister finish her career. She took it really hard.

And my mom, bless that woman’s heart. I think in four years she may have missed eight games. Maybe. I think she maybe missed two Big 12 games my whole career. That’s a huge commitment for her.

We were in Albuquerque, and she told me, “Win or lose, I have to get on the road.” She had to be at work at like 7 o’clock in the morning, so she was going to have to drive all the night through. We get to the hotel, and everybody’s parents are there. I’m crying, I can barely get off the bus, and somebody was like, “Your mom is here.” She just couldn’t get on the road without seeing me. She ended up staying the night … and getting up at like 4 and driving. She was sad for me, and she was sad that it was over. Luckily for my mom, my younger sister, Angela, just signed with Southern Nazarene. She’s going to run track and cross country there. The athletics live on in our family.

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